By Michael Kanaabi Dollar
It’s a hot rather humid afternoon not ideal conditions to move any where away from the comfort of your office or home but I choose to make the trip any way. I beat the heat, hustle and bustle and some how manage to find my way to Kira Bulindo where ‘the Solution house’ which Ngonzi Wataba fondly refers to as Idea Cafe Africa, the place where he has set up his fortress as a rising growth Coach.
The wooden sliding gate that welcomes you to this place speaks of some appreciation for things unique and a closer look at the design of the simple but spacious buildings with in the enclosure further entrench that.
Up the stairs to the upper quadrangle and I am ushered into a studio apartment which doubles as Ngonzi’s office, workshop, store with some resting space too. Casual smart and bespectacled is the look Ngonzi is donning for this meet up.
Not very fast to speak, I can say Ngonzi is a good listener, quite reflective too and tries to choose his words wisely. Good traits any Coach should possess. His story is an interesting one too. A somewhat high flying Advertising Executive who seemed to have it all going for him living in the fast lane dinning with the high and mighty, chewing away or brand strategy, experience and all the PR hullabaloo.
Little did he know one day it would all fall apart which it eventually did and Ngonzi found himself on ground zero with no place to call home, not a penny in his pocket and far off from his next meal if it was to come by any time soon.
Turning it all around
May be it’s true actually very true, it is not how hard a man actually falls but how willing and determined he is to get up that makes the difference in many a successful man’s life.
Luckily for Ngonzi God was watching it all and in the midst of what looked like hitting rock bottom for him, he rediscovered himself as a person in his totality that is spiritually, physically, emotionally and intuitively or mentally.
While asking himself all the hard questions, lonely and lost Ngonzi went on a spiritual journey that got him much closer to his creator and also helped him discover his true calling which is coaching and holding deep meaningful conversations with people ultimately geared towards personal growth.
Little by little he began to pick up the pieces. His passion for the environment took him to get deeper into forest cultivation something he had partly embarked on earlier. Still looking at how to get the best from nature Ngonzi went into apiary something he does back in his home village having undergone some professional training in it and now produces good quality honey too.
His other passion is in meat and pork industry where he has taken to doing some piggery and producing some fine pork too.
Ngonzi sharing a moment with former URA Commissioner General Grace Akol at one of the events he hosted
Having spent part of his early life in rural Busoga and then spent a big part of his working life in the fast paced world of advertising and media, Ngonzi seems to have blended both these worlds effectively to offer a reflective touch and depth to his conversations as a coach.
He also exudes quite good knowledge on a variety of subjects far apart like performing arts and politics that seem to emanate from the place of a good reader some thing the books scattered around his lounge or office re-enforce.
Going forward Ngonzi who is also an author of a book titled ‘Education is not the Key’ through which he tries to open the huge debate about our current education system, it’s defects and how much learning we need to do outside the classroom is on a quest to help people discover their best selves.
And one of the ways in which he plans to do it is through his Kyoto Kya Solution event he holds every weekend at his Idea Cafe Africa premises.
Here a good mixture of very honest and deep conversation does take place either on the green at his location where a fire place (ekyooto) is lit later in the evening, some good meat roasts, liqour and other accompaniments ease the night away or on the inside of his studio style well spaced lounge or office.
One thing is clear here the conversation keeps going to depths beyond imagination with growth being at the centre of it all.
This space he intends to turn into a home of arts including fashion, poetry, fine art music, free speech and personal development which are at the centre of his heart as a Coach.
All said and done Ngonzi Wataba ‘The Solution’ wants to do one thing ‘Help People find answers’ to life’s most pressing and toughest questions.
Whether spiritual, physical, financial, personal, he has created the space and he has the intent to help you discover your best self and how you can harness that to the fullest.
In one statement ‘Life is about sowing seed, every time you get a chance sow a seed because with seed there is a guarantee of continuity, growth and multiplication Ngonzi emphasizes. This is unlike when you choose to consume everything with in your reach because with consumption you are only guaranteed today’s meal and nothing for tomorrow.
Personally I would call my afternoon with Ngonzi an eye opener, an enriching afternoon clearly reminding me about how fundamental some of the things we take for granted are and I can only say safe journey Comrade Ngonzi as you sail the great seas of personal growth, development, a full blown expression of the human spirit through conversation and the arts from the inside out and write your name among those who impacted their generation.
The Author is Journalist, PR Practitioner and a fast rising Entrepreneur
Email: michaelkanaabi@gmail.com WhatsApp: +256701133509
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