CQ, Familia sweep Born & Bred Awards

The speed of his life journey from an early childhood in Ndola has of late accelerated beyond the imagination of his peers from back in the day. A few who were his neighbors in Lusaka when he attended primary school at Jacaranda and secondary at Libala still affectionately call him 'Stew', and he seems cool with that. One his old buddy's, Jerome, is actually present as we chow a finger licking meal of well prepared nshima and pork with thick well spiced gravy (heck, I cooked it: so I'll blow my own trumpet). Although this is the Stewart who featured in the GQ Magazine January edition as well as the Carling Black Label television commercials in their new campaign, he evidently hasn't let this fame get to him in the slightest.

It's now 21.06 hours at Brokenhill HQ and we are chatting away with the boys in Bemba, Nyanja and English. Stewart when prodded reflects on how his entry into the modeling and fashion industry was somewhat unspectacular. His family had moved to Cape Town from Zambia seven years ago and he was enrolled at Sea Point High. Destiny dictated that the family would live next door to a lady hairdresser who was friends with the owner of a certain modeling agency. She offered to introduce Stew but for six months he showed no interest. When he finally made the meeting, it resulted in him being featured on a billboard for fashion house Markhams; the turning point of his life and career.

Now at age 26 Stewart is in high demand. Besides enjoying healthy fees from commercials, photo shoots and other modeling assignments, Stewart is a Clothing Retail Consultant involved in staff training recruitment and generally uplifting performance levels of stores. So what's his take on the modeling industry in South Africa. After an introspective pause, Stewart speaks; "Six years ago, you couldn't consider modeling as a career but it's now more prominent and being taken more seriously. It's not yet as big an industry as it is in Europe and has sadly been plagued by a bad reputation due to people associating it with drugs, anorexia and the reported exploitation of models. Intelligent successful individuals in the industry have not been exposed much as yet".

As nostalgic conversation gets louder (and I'm reminded of how my mother would in such a situ yell 'imwe, ndemyuma, this is not a bar, ichongo'), I discover that he's still very much in touch with Zambia, where his eldest sister still resides. He last visited the Zed in 1999 and he'll be back for a visit this August. Stewart's sight though is set on eventually settling down in Europe with the Spaniards. "I fell in love with Spain on my first visit there; it's laid back, but also feels like a mix of New York and Cape Town". Throughout our conversations, this man exhibits a sophisticated level of composure. Asked whether he's seeing anyone, Stewart casually replies, "I'm not looking but my eyes are open… if it happens, it happens". He then went on to share with us two of the goals, alive in his radius of determination.

The man wishes to establish himself in a career as movie director in London before settling in Spain:

"I enjoy being a part of commercials for television these days because it's also a learning experience, in line with my aspiration to be a film director, even if we take a full day at the location shooting". The other dream is to feature on the cover of Men's Health magazine.

"I'm yet to see a black man grace the cover of Men's Health, so I'd like to be on there some day soon, and also from the health aspect…"

Time keeps on slipping. It's 22.57 hours, we're through with the meal and the noise level in our apartment has reduced slightly. We've all washed our hands and I'm wishing we could have quenched the meal down with some good ol' Jolly Juice. Before we rise to escort our visitors, I turn to Stewart and ask what his favorite saying is.

"Gosh, let me see… umm, I like the one that goes, 'Dance like no one is watching, Love like you've never been hurt and work like you don't need the cash'". I can live with that.

This is not Stewart Little's story: this Stewart from the Zed is getting larger on the daily. My analysis after hanging out with him and my Zed brothers leads me to conclude in sincerity, honesty and in four words that, 'Uyu Stewarty ni nshimbi' and he shines nicely!

MORE FACTS ABOUT STEWART

• Full name is Stewart Mugwiji, born on 29 January 1975
• He is cousins with Maureen Nkandu
• His favorite show on TV is Ally McBeal
• Has four sisters. His mother is retired and his father deceased
• Favorite movie is the classic The Great Gatby starring Robert Redford
• Favorite CD's include Lenny Kravitz "Greatest Hits", U2's "All That You Can Leave Behind" and Jennifer Rush's "Passion"
• Recent books read and enjoyed include Anthony Robbins - 'Unlimited Power' and Dr Wayne Dyer's 'Sacred Self'
• He works out at least 5 time a week

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