ONLY IN AFRICA

My visit to Canada

2009-02-06T10:47:00.008+03:00

This Christmas I got to go to Canada (Alberta) for the first time in my life and let me tell you it was fuuuuun. I went to the Rocky Mountains to a place called Jasper and went to a hockey game of the Edmonton Oilers agains't the New York Islanders. It was very cold the whole time and one day it even went down to -41c. My mother in law still made me shovel the snow. Also, we went sledding but in Canada they call it tobogganing. The best part of the visit was a real traditional Christmas with family. Ricki's family made me feel at home and they were very nice to me. I liked playing cards with Grandma Alice even though she cheated. Here are a few of the pictures from the trip.

Good News!

2008-12-31T07:23:00.003+03:00

Last year was quite hectic but I am glad my wife and I made it through strongly. I'm even more glad about how we ended the year, here in Canada, with nice weather, a loving family and I finally got to see where Ricki grew up. What a way to end a year, full of happiness. Anyhow, already I'm sure my new year is going to be very nice whatever may come my way because I am going to be a father. My wife is three months pregnant and it's already a good feeling for me, therefore I cannot imagine how good it is going to feel to hold my child for the first time. As you can see in the picture, I met my niece and nephew for the first time and got a taste of having children around.

To all of you to have stood by me in 2008, a big thank you! Thank you for believing in me and giving me so much support. I hope we will continue to be friends in 2009 and beyond. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-19T09:41:00.002+03:00

Heeeey! I bet you thought I dissapeared. I have been very busy. Sorry about that. I have got some good news and bad news.

First the bad news is that our laptop was stolen and all of my pictures and website files were on there. I had stories to put up and pictures of all my latest projects. I will not have time to get all of that written again and all of the pictures collected again before Christmas.

There is a lot of good news. In the last two months, I finished my contract as Assistant Director on the Wahapahapa music video project. I did a screening of my documentary on albinos to other experienced directors and then improved on it. We (me, Mwisho and Latoya) are in Bang! Magazine this month and on the cover. Also, the movie I did with Kanumba and Wema is out. It is called Family Tears: Bad Intentions and they are selling it everywhere in TZ. I don't know how you guys in other countries can get it but I will ask the director. Also, me and Ricki are going to Canada to visit family in Edmonton at Christmas. I guess I am going to be really cold. I promise to put up pictures at least here on my blog until I get get my website programmes and files back.

To all of you who have stuck by me and patiently waited for updates - THANK YOU. You have been very understanding. When I get messages and emails from fans or meet you on the street it makes my day. Especially one year later and I still get so much support. I am very lucky.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for 2009 everybody!

Playful at home

2008-09-29T17:24:00.005+03:00

BBA3 Profile Shoot

2008-09-29T16:51:00.010+03:00

I had some visitors from South Africa to film my profile shoot for the opening of Big Brother Africa 3. They wanted to know what I had been up to since the show and how life is now. I had fun signing autographs and showing off for the camera. Here are a few shots from that time.

Forgive me

2008-09-25T15:20:00.002+03:00

Heeeeey,

Please forgive me I have been so busy lately. Here's what I am going to put up soon on my website:

Behind the scenes on the albino documentary (I am doing the finishing touches on the editing now)
Behind the scenes from the latest Tanzanian movie I just finished acting in called "Another Wife"
Pictures of the billboard me and Mwisho did since it is now out in Dar es Salaam
Pictures of the BBA3 Launch Party even though it is old now

I keep saying I am going to update but I am always working and in meetings but I will try my level best to work on this on the weekend. I am not ignoring you guys. Thank you to all of you who still check for updates. Peace.

WAAAAZUP??

2008-08-18T10:50:00.004+03:00

To my fans I know I have been very quiet but its just that been very busy on a movie set. My apologies. Coming back home at 2am every night from shooting this movie has made it very difficult for me to update my website as it requires plenty of time to orginse articles. I am sure those of you who deal with websites know what I mean. I will put up the article and pictures of this movie as soon as I finish the photo shoot for a billboard I am working on at the moment. I will also put up behind the scenes of this movie on the video section.

Happy Birthday Mr. Mandela

2008-07-18T16:07:00.002+03:00

If by some strange fluke you ever read this Mr. Mandela then - Happy 90th Birthday. I can only dream of making a difference in this world like you have. You are an inspiration.

Stop the Killings!

2008-07-04T18:01:00.003+03:00

My idea to make a documentary about the albino killings is slowly turning into a campaign. I have been meeting with government officials and I have more appointments this week. I am so happy that people are really taking interest in this human rights issue.

When I was in Mwanza, a journalist named Nashon Kennedy from HabariLeo wrote a story about what I am working on. The story is in Kiswahili, sorry about that for the English speakers. Here is the link:

http://www.habarileo.co.tz/michezoburudani/?id=9923

This is not just an issue affecting Tanzania and I hear that there are some cases of albino killings in other African countries. If any of you have stories, contacts or ideas on how to stop this violence, email me at richard@richardbba2winner.com

Documentary Update

2008-07-02T20:33:00.004+03:00

Hi. I'm back from Mwanza but still shooting the documentary on the senseless killing of albinos. Another one was killed on Monday. Today I met with a witch doctor. Witch doctors are known for provoking the killings but the one I met had another view on it. I am going to try to get shooting done this week. Here's me hard at work:

I am going to Mwanza

2008-06-22T17:24:00.002+03:00

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow I am going to Mwanza (a region beside Lake Victoria) to do shooting for a documentary I want to make about a very important topic in Tanzania right now. You can read all about it in this newspaper article: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/08/africa/tanzania.php. It is very shocking.

I am sorry I did not get time to put up my UK pictures but I promise I will do it when I get home on the weekend. While you are waiting you can see I video I put to entertain you in the video section of my website: www.richardbba2winner.com/fm/videos.html

Peace.
Richard

What I did last week

2008-05-28T19:40:00.008+03:00

Hi everyone,

A lot of people have been asking me what I do on a regular day. Last week was a busy one for me. I got my new video camera from Dubai as well as my iMac for editing. I have been learning a lot about Final Cut Pro. I also got one professional light and more lights and my sound equipment has been ordered so I am on my way to having a production company. The dolly and crane I ordered are still being custom made.

Also last week I had some fun with my brother Louis and my friend Robert. I remembered to bring the camera so here are some fun pictures for you.

Fun in the Cape

2008-05-07T13:43:00.002+03:00

Cape Town - South Africa

Hey guys I'm in the Cape having a total blast !!!

Will update you with all the news when we get back.

Bertha gets Baptized!

2008-04-08T15:12:00.004+03:00

My good friends Ambajo's are such big BBA fans that they named their daughter after Bertha. Bertha Chelsea Mbajo was baptized on Sunday. Here I am with baby Bertha:

And here is Ricki with Rose (Mama Bertha) and the baby.

Thanks to Methusela and Rose for inviting us to your daughter's baptism.

Stray Horses

2008-04-08T14:44:00.002+03:00

In Lagos instead of stray dogs wandering the streets they have stray horses. This is very strange to me since in Tanzania you almost never see a horse. Someone told me they get abandoned when they get sick or are not healthy to play polo. Nigerians, is that true? I hear that they even get hit by cars. I saw one causing a traffic jam when it was standing in the middle of the road. This picture is in fromt of the Palms in Lekki.

Meryl's 22nd Birthday

2008-03-11T15:18:00.004+03:00

Here we are at Jay Jay Okocha's club on Saturday night.

And a little controversy for you (don't worry I really am behaving myself).

A Preview of Nollywood

2008-03-11T00:17:00.005+03:00

I am sorry to everyone for not saying goodbye when I left for Lagos on the 23rd of February. As some of you may know I was waiting for quite a long time to leave and then I finally got my travel plans at the last minute. I didn't have internet for the first week and I am working looooong days on the movie set so I haven't had time to chat. I won't be able to update my website until I get home when I will put a bunch of pictures on there. For now here is a sneek peek.

Here I am acting in the lead role as a guy called "Slow". Acting is hard work actually much harder than I thought. Every scene takes time to get set up and we work late into the night usually until 4am. The power cuts also slow things down but the plan is that we will be done tomorrow. I will be doing a second movie later on with the same director called Moses Inwang. Meryl is also acting with me as well as some major Nigerian stars. I will put more details about the movie, the release date and all of that stuff later on.

Thanks everybody for your emails and facebook messages. I will try my best to get to them as fast as I can. Peace.

Poor Omari

2008-02-18T22:56:00.002+03:00

Tonight I asked our gardener to go buy me phone credit at the shop down the road and some drunk asshole didn't want to let him pass on the road and gave him a punch in the face. Pole sana Omari that's a nasty bump on your head.

Dala-dala of the week

2008-02-18T22:51:00.002+03:00

I wonder if there is a sekendi born too?

Friday Night!

2008-02-17T14:49:00.011+03:00

On Friday my Dad invited me, Louis and Ricki out for some beers and dancing in Tegeta an area in the north of Dar near my place. It was nice to have the time to chill with my family since life has been so hectic lately. We really got a chance to relax and not worry about anything. As you can see my dad still wears his Big Brother hat.

Saturday Night

2008-02-17T13:51:00.004+03:00

I was invited by my new friend Alfredo to Mediterraneo for their pool side party. Alfredo is a Producer working with Epic Productions from L.A. and he is a really cool guy. The music was great and so was the atmosphere (people in Dar know how cool this place is). Here I am with some new friends:

Dala-dala (city bus) of the Week

2008-02-08T15:55:00.000+03:00

I was driving behind this dala-dala I could swear that it was driving at 100km per hour on the city streets.