Greetings to you all and thank you very much indeed for taking the time to visit my website.
Karibu-Welcome
I, Denis Maina Gathanju, am pleased to welcome you to my official website. Herein you will find more information about my past, present and future and will get to not only know me better in the process, but get to sample some of my published works, as well.
My journey towards trade and consumer journalism has been a checkered one to say the very least, but it has been worth the effort. I have gone through the formal and informal journalism education systems which are have their own pros and cons, but have added immensely to the skills and experience I possess today.
While writing has been a first love for me, I must confess to another love, albeit in a whisper. Still Photography is yet another art form that I have fallen in love with. I practice the craft in concert with my writing engagements. Though I have not gone full throttle into aggressively following this passion, it is only a matter of time. Videography is yet another love that for years has remained locked in a closet. My desire is to help tell the African story from an African perspective through motion pictures. Though the path has been walked by many other prominent personalities before me, I am not trying to re-invent the wheel, but in art, everyone sees things with a different eye and I want to make my own contributions in my own way. I would never forgive myself if I didn't do it.
Africa behind the headlines
Unlike popular believe, Africa is not all conflict and wars, hunger and disease. I refuse to believe that Africa is a dark continent and it is through my self-believe that I want to portray a different image of Africa. I have been successful, in a way, to present a positive image of Africa through my writing.
Though, I cannot compare to the likes of Nelson Mandela and Professor Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate, I believe that my small contributions and the contributions of many other African writers, poets, screenwriters and documentary filmmakers will go a long way into making the Africa that we all dream about.
Africa is a continent rich in cultural heritage, deep-rooted tribal traditions, mouth-watering traditional African cuisine, mind-sketching natural landscapes, diverse flora and fauna resident nowhere else in the world but in Africa and yes, the final investment frontier in the world where Africans in Diaspora and foreign investors are trooping to make new investment deals.
From whichever part of the world you are reading this, I challenge you to look at Africa beyond the stereotypes; study the continent keenly behind the headlines; open up your third eye and see Africa from a business perspective and when you decide to visit any part of this vast continent, come with an open heart and mind. And when you are done, believe you me, you will love everything about Africa in spite of its many limitations. Like my dear friend and brother Ed Finegold says, you will be Africanized forever.