What KASONDE24 Means to Me: The Story Behind the Name, the Vision and the Journey
The links lead to a website called KASONDE24.
Perhaps you have wondered why I keep sharing articles from the same website. Perhaps you have even asked yourself whether I am simply an influencer promoting the platform. Someone else may have reached a different conclusion and thought, Maybe Rodgers Mangwela owns it.
That person would be right.
I am KASONDE24.
But KASONDE24 is not simply a blogsite carrying my name. To me, it represents something much bigger: a personal journey, a creative experiment, a connection to my roots and, most importantly, a window through which my people can see the wider world while the wider world gets an opportunity to see ours.
It started with Kabwe Buzz HD
The story goes back to 2017.
At the time, I was studying web development and experimenting with something that fascinated me: the ability to create a digital platform and publish information for anyone, anywhere, with an internet connection.
I started a blog called Kabwe Buzz HD.
The original idea was relatively simple. I wanted to give upcoming musicians and businesspeople in Kabwe a place where their stories could receive attention. I also wanted to tell the world about Kabwe's remarkable history.
Kabwe was not simply the place where I lived. It was a place filled with stories, people, creativity, struggles, ambitions and history.
I wanted those stories to travel beyond the streets where they were born.
The blog became part of my learning journey in web development, but it also became something more personal. I began discovering that the internet could be more than a place for consuming information. It could be a place where an ordinary person could build something of his own.
Then, in 2018, the transformation began.
Why KASONDE24?
I decided to change the name from Kabwe Buzz HD to KASONDE24.
The decision was deeply personal.
Rodgers Mangwela is my formal name, the name that appears on my official citizenship documents. But Kasonde is different.
Kasonde is the name given to me by my late grandfather, Mr George Michael Nkalamo, when I was born.
There is an emotional connection to that name that cannot be explained simply by saying it is a name. It represents family, heritage and a piece of where I come from.
I sometimes regret that I did not have the name included on my official documents.
So when I was looking for a new identity for the platform, I did not want to simply put "Rodgers" on it. I wanted something that carried a deeper part of my story.
That is how KASONDE24 was born.
The 24 comes from my birthday.
In that sense, KASONDE24 is not just a brand. It carries a little piece of my identity.
From Kabwe to the world
Changing the name also changed the direction of the platform.
Kabwe Buzz HD had been largely focused on Kabwe. KASONDE24 opened the door much wider.
The blog was no longer going to concentrate only on what was happening in one town. I wanted to explore the world.
That meant writing about unusual and sometimes unpopular news stories, business, technology, human-interest stories and virtually anything that I found interesting enough to investigate, understand and explain.
Some stories are serious. Others are strange. Some are educational. Others simply make you stop scrolling and ask, Is this really true?
That curiosity has become part of the character of KASONDE24.
For me, journalism and digital publishing are not only about reporting what everybody is already talking about. Sometimes they are about finding the story hiding in the corner and giving it a voice.
A window between worlds
This is perhaps the best way I can explain what KASONDE24 means to me.
It is a window.
It is a window for my people to the outside world, and a window for the outside world to my world.
For someone sitting in Kabwe, Zambia, the internet can open doors to stories from London, New York, Tokyo, Nairobi or Johannesburg.
But the movement can happen in the opposite direction too.
A reader somewhere in the United States or United Kingdom can discover a story published from Zambia. Someone in Europe can read about an African perspective. Someone elsewhere on the continent can stumble across an idea that began in Kabwe.
That is the beauty of digital publishing.
Geography does not have to determine how far an idea can travel.
From a small experiment to a growing platform
Today, KASONDE24 has grown considerably from the experiment I started while learning web development.
The platform is monetized and receives both organic traffic and traffic from social media. Its readership has reached beyond Zambia and Africa, with the United States currently among its leading sources of traffic, followed by the United Kingdom.
That international reach means a lot to me.
It tells me that stories published from a platform rooted in Zambia can find readers far beyond Zambia's borders.
Traffic has come from different parts of the world, and seeing that global footprint continues to motivate me.
It is a reminder that you do not necessarily need to begin in a major media capital to build something capable of reaching an international audience.
Sometimes you simply need to begin.
KASONDE24 is part of a bigger dream
KASONDE24 is not the only digital platform I have created.
Over time, other platforms have emerged, including KABWETIMES, PHOTOGRAM CREATIVE LAB, OPEN LEARN ZAMBIA, ZAMBEZI24 and AMAZING BIBLE FACTS.
Each has its own identity and purpose, but together they represent something larger: my belief in the power of digital platforms to educate, inform, create opportunities and tell stories.
Looking back at where this journey started in 2017, I am reminded that many big dreams begin as small experiments.
A blog can begin with a person sitting somewhere, learning how websites work.
A name can begin as a family memory.
An idea can begin with nothing more than curiosity.
And, with patience, consistency and a willingness to keep learning, that small idea can eventually reach people you never imagined would see it.
This is why I keep sharing KASONDE24
So, the next time you see me share a KASONDE24 article on your social media feed, you now know the story behind it.
I am not simply promoting someone else's blog.
I am sharing a piece of something I built.
KASONDE24 carries my grandfather's name, my birthday, my curiosity, my experiences and my belief that stories born in Zambia deserve the opportunity to travel.
It is still evolving, still learning and still growing.
And perhaps that is the most exciting part.
The journey is not finished.
KASONDE24 is a window from my world to yours and from your world back to mine.
If you have a story, a business, an idea or something worth sharing with a wider audience, there is room at that window.
Advertise on KASONDE24, follow the journey and become part of the growing community that believes good ideas and powerful stories should not be limited by borders.
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