Afrospection with Joel Haikali
Film Maker, Joel Haikali runs a film a film production company, Joe Vision Production, and this year published the Namibia Creative Industry Guide. Joel shares here his learnings and lessons from the past year, his self examination from Africa… his Afrospection.
Joel’s favourite quite right now:
“You don’t have to be rich to invest in the development of your people.”
I am not sure who exactly said that but it resonates with me and I feel Namibia is doing it the other way around assuming that first we need to achieve certain economic goals before we can make social investments. That approach trickles down unfortunately to a personal level and ends in a ‘I would do something if I had more xyz’ attitude.
If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?
JH: Patience.
What challenged you in 2018 and how did you overcome this challenge?
JH: As creative entrepreneurs we have come to realise, if we want to contribute to the economy as a whole in a more meaningful way and to a certain extend to prove that we are already contributing to the economy, we need to do a different kind of ‘job’ on top of our job. This is why we published Namibia’s first creative industry guide. Funny enough though before we even got to convincing anyone outside of the industry, we needed to actually convince creative practitioners themselves. Often creatives don’t spend much time focusing on the business aspect of their work and therefore fail to clearly point out why creative industry is the future for a sustainable economy.
What’s one thing that bothers you most about the world today?
JH: With all the wealth and big minds we have, the focus is still on promoting fear instead of hope, peace and love. I know that sounds like a very hippy sentiment but I truly believe in focusing on solutions rather than on problems unless it is done with the intention to identify and address them.
What was your biggest personal development learning of 2018?
JH: Realising that when it all said and done, it’s down to me to change my world and tell my story. No one is coming to save me and no one will do it for me, so it really has been a year of re-focusing where do I want to go what do I want to see and experience and what is my role in achieving that.
What is your wish for Namibia for 2019?
JH: Going forward I wish that we would finally agree on a Namibian dream and work towards achieving it in unity.
Where do you find your inspiration?
JH: Men and women who persevere despite, because and in the face of adversity.
What’s on your bucket list for 2019?
JH: Publishing a personal list
Do you believe in second chances?
JH: I believe in second chances in the context of forgiving in order to move on but in terms of opportunities, I don’t. I believe we all get one defining chance and it’s up to us to actually use it or regretting and complaining about it retrospectively.
What skill do you wish you had?
JH: I really try not to focus on the things I don’t have. It’s a strategy that got me here 😉
You can find Joel’s work by clicking here