MOMBASA TOP FEMALE BLOGGERS

                     MOMBASA  TOP  FEMALE BLOGGERS

A considerable number of women are joining bloggers’ ranks in Mombasa each year with passion and finesse often associated with their male counterparts. Shani Fakii the Coast Woman Magazine writer spoke to some of the top female   bloggers on what it takes   to be a blogger and be on top.

Jamila El- Jambry who blogs on ‘Life in Mombasa’ which earned her the Best County Blog in 2016 by BAKE (Bloggers Association of Kenya).

Jamila has been at it for the last seven years. She schooled at the Metropolitan State University in the United States of America before she came back to Kenya in 2011.

She started blogging while was in the USA.  In 2008 she did a blog on how she dealt with culture shock her own personal thought and experience at the university.

When she came back she stopped blogging for a while but when insecurity cases started being registered in Mombasa with the increase of the criminal gangs, she got the urge to start blogging. This time she wanted people to see the other side of Mombasa that the media doesn’t show or talk about.

“Mombasa is beautiful despite the challenges that we faced in the previous years of insecurity. So my blog showcases the beautiful places in Mombasa that the local and international tourist may opt to visit,’’ added Jamila. 

Jamila 

She says Social media has played a crucial role in promoting blogging both locally and internationally.

Jamila is also a photographer par excellence. She also has a business acumen having founded the “Malikia Creative’’ and is a senior consultant at The FLO Fierce Lady Network. 

Jamila was featured by the CNN on Africa voices in 2017 as the creative artist capturing life in Mombasa.

Jamila has also won the best blog three consecutive times by the Bake awards: In 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Lubnah  Abdul Halim ‘strokes of my pen

Lubnah  Abdul Halim is a writing junkie, her blog is mainly for expressing herself as she loves observing people, situation, things, and life in general and tries to understand what goes around her.

She is mainly motivated to write her blog to make an impact and influence positivity in the community continuously pulled apart by challenges of life.

“Even if it means to just positively influence one person. It is also intended at inspiring Mombasa writers to explore their talents and use them effectively.

Lubna

“I started blogging in the year 2014 as a requirement for one of a media unit’s academic assignment,’’ she said. After the unit, she decided to make changes to the blog and start afresh focusing on her own interest.

“I believe there’s a lot of talent in the Coast, most people just don’t realize it or don’t know where to start when it comes to writing or don’t understand how writing and blogging is such a powerful tool in today’s world we need the authentic coastal voices out here ‘’ she added.

Her target audience is mostly the youth but generally, anyone can read the blog, since she is a creative writer and she doesn’t specify in one of them, she covers a variety of topics.

Lubnah was nominated by BAKE (Bloggers Association of Kenya) in 2016 among the top five in the creative writing category but haven’t won any awards yet.

Her next article will be on Mental Health since it’s the major challenges that society face in today’s life.

Lubnah 24 years old,  holder of a Bachelors degree in Mass Communication and Journalism, a diploma in Islamic studies and currently a degree student of psychology.

Anne   Rose: the mwanachi’s perspective

Anne   Rose also known as Anne Maua is 25 years old and she started blogging in 2012 ,  especially after  listening to chima Amanda ’s video on the danger of a single story and reading binyavanga wainainas book on how to write about Africa.

She felt that Africa has too much to offer to the world but it was merely underwritten and the fact the people bring change in the grass root was

never covered by the mainstream media, this also led her to establish a column where she could feature stories on human interest on individuals doing a great job but not being recognized.

Her blog main aim is to give voices to young Africans in their own small ways but nobody covers them as well as telling the African story. She targets all age groups and people who are generally interested in Africa.

ANN MAUA

My blog name is the mwananachi’s perspective (annemaua.blogspot.com)

“Am in the process of rebranding the blog, and my readers should expect quite a number of interviews and  couple of African stories, besides I will be introducing a new column where I will be hosting other African bloggers,” she quips.

In 2016 Anne participated in the blog for development contest by World Bank Kenya where she was recognized and in the same year she was awarded by action aid Kenya, best upcoming female champion of the year for promoting youth rights through online space.

“I have patience; blogging is not for people who give up easily rewards come to those who wait.”

Don’t blog with the aim of making money be good at what you do and the rest will follow.

Am a trained  journalist ,a digital communication consultant ,pan Africanist ,a trainer in peacebuilding ,CVE and conflict management ,writer &blogger, civic educator, cabinet secretary for security at Mombasa youth assembly ,an alumni  PLGP 2018(political leadership and governance program ) ,a fellow at the Rosa Luxemburg sifting fellowship (RLS) on pan Africanism and transformational leadership and also a member of the DFID KENYA youth advisory panel (YAP).

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