Anakazi Center

Meggie Wambui Waruri -Talanta Dev. Founder -On Voices of Anakazi

Meggie Wambui Waruri (President/Founder Talanta Dev. Inc) www.talantawards.com .
Born and raised in Kenya East of Africa the third among six children. Did Legal Studies in Moi College and Kenyatta University in Kenya. I worked as a Paralegal for 9years in Kenya before proceeding to the United States in 2001.
In 2004 I lost my husband of 16yrs to HIV and AIDs which by God’s Grace left me unscathed. I turned out negative even after the doctors declaring that my husband had been sick for over 10yrs which he admitted before his death. I am a mother of two girls now 1st year and 3rd year Methodist University and Daystar University in Nairobi respectively.
I started working with young adults back in Africa where I mostly dealt with those in crisis in my area at church level since we did not have any centre for such.
When I came to the United States, I continued drawing the attention of the same crowd i.e young adults and we would have sessions with individuals until when a group of young men met and decided to start a bible study group. The group grew with a short time and they realized there were issues they could not handle and invited me to be their Patron. Most of them did not have cars, so that meant picking them up and dropping them off which took a whole Sunday evening sometimes till midnight. I enjoyed working with them and we traveled to more than 15 states mobilizing other young people to get positively involved in their communities. Many youth groups were started and the dormant ones stirred up to action. I would also talk to the Pastors, Leaders and parents to create environments that were youth friendly in our churches since keeping them positively engaged is one vehicle to moral sustainability which is a rare commodity in the system we are in.
While traveling in all these states, I felt a conviction to have a platform where we could acknowledge and appreciate those that were maximizing their talents/gifts and being role models to others. It is at this point when Talanta Development Inc. was born. This is basically a youth empowerment platform where we showcase the talents in African Immigrant child who is faced with so many challenges but still shines not only in academics but other aspects as well.
*International Youth Council member at The United Nations .

On Voices of Anakazi Saturday January 28th – Towani Clarke -Kutowa Designs

Towani Clarke has been designing clothes as a business since 2009. Prior to this, for several years she designed outfits for herself and her sisters from the various African fabrics her Zambian Women’s Rights Activist mother gave as gifts from her travels around Africa. Many a time she and her sisters were stopped in the street to ask where they got their clothes. This prompted Towani, despite having a Bachelor Degree in Agric and a Masters in Business Administration, to give up her job as a manager at one of the country’s leading corporate law firms to pursue her passion in fashion as a self-taught designer.
Kutowa Designs is the name of Towani’s label and comes from the Tumbuka tribe, which is in both Zambia and Malawi. Kutowa is the root of Towani’s name and means, “to be so bright and beautiful you dazzle”. The label is a fusion of Africa and the West to come up with a new touch bridging both worlds. Towani’s current designs mix Zambia’s distinct chitenge fabrics with classic Western cuts and fabrics. “I feel chitenge is busy and beautiful enough on its own and I try to keep my cuts simple enough to let the beauty of the fabric to shine through” says Towani.
Kutowa Designs has taken part in a number of local craft markets as well as making custom made clothes for individual clients. Kutowa Designs first showcase in 2009 was as a guest designer with regionally known Zambian designer Mickley Banda who designed the dress for the finalist of the first MNet Face of Africa competition. Regionally in 2011, Kutowa Designs represented Zambia at the Origin Africa Designers Show Case in Mauritius, the Swahili Fashion Week in Tanzania and at FIMA in Niger.
Although Kutowa does make accessories, for a couple of collections, Kutowa Designs teamed with Magic Hands of Africa – an upcoming young and dynamic local jewellery designer who works with widows, HIV positive women and other women in Lusaka.

Saturday Airtimes 12 noon Eastern 9am PST and 19.00hrs Zambian Time.
To Participate call Zambia Blog Talk Radio at 347-237-4270 or to listen live go to www.zambiablogtalkradio.com , you can also tweet @anakazi

Anakazi Business Network

The Anakazi Business Network Mixers in Zambia (12/17/2011 and 12/30/2011) were a success. Various Business women attended the event at the Crossroads Lodge, in Olympia Lusaka and Protea Hotel, Chingola.

The members who attended the event had the opportunity to meet executives of companies from different industries such as financial services, banking, retail,health services and government institutions such as the Zambia Revenue Service. At the Chingola mixer our focus was Access to Finance, where members learnt about financing opportunities at Standard Chartered Bank in Chingola.