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CNN Multichoice Africa winner: I lost my job but found myself

Lifestyle

Evelyn Watta

Evelyn Watta is the 2014 CNN Multichoice Africa Journalist of the Year in sports. She has over 10 years of experience as a broadcast journalist. Evelyn’s star almost dimmed when she lost her job at a local media house in 2009. It was also the time her mother was involved in a road accident. Losing her job turned out to be a great opportunity as switching from broadcast journalism to print finally paid off this year when she won the CNN award. She spoke to Cate Mukei about struggling with her mother’s accident and landing her dream job.

What story won you the CNN Multichoice Africa Journalist of the Year in Sports?

I went to Dakar Senegal last year for an African sports convention. The organisers were hosting me for only three nights. On arrival at the airport, I found this big crowd and when I asked my colleagues, I was told that a wrestler had come home. I was meant to travel on a Friday, but I decided to extend my stay and see what really the excitement was about. I found out that wrestling was a big sport there and that’s how I came up with my winning story.

You left Nation after 10 years. Was it in good terms?

Well, I knew it was time for a new challenge but as usual, no one is ever ready to let go. Nation let me go because I was too expensive to maintain. They gave me an exit package but still, I was affected. At the moment, I was also going through a lot of personal challenges.

What did you want to do with your life?

I had gone for a few interviews but every time I would reject the offer saying that I wasn’t ready to leave TV. I wasn’t sure what I really wanted. I knew I was on the right path, but I wasn’t sure that the vehicle I was using would take me to my destination.

You mentioned that there was a lot going on in your life. What exactly was happening?

My mother was involved in an accident in Tanzania. I can still recall the fateful day like it was yesterday. She had travelled to Tanzania for a wedding where she had been hired to bake a cake.

My father called me in the evening just after reading news and broke the news. I remember heading straight to the airport trying to catch a flight to Tanzania. I did not even know where my mother was and neither did I know her condition. Luckily, I found her in a hospital where I was advised to fly her back to Kenya for better medical care.

Were you jobless then?

No, but it was the same month that I lost my job.

How did you manage to take care of your mother without a job?

I’m a very good saver and I still had some money from the exit package. However, this was quite distracting since my savings were dwindling. I’m the oldest child and I was still paying school fee for my sister.

How did you pull through this?

I’m a very prayerful person and I have a very supportive husband. I’m married to a fairy tale type of husband.

Did this change your view of life?

It taught me a lot. Everyone looked up to me and it taught me that sometimes you could be praying for certain things but you forget to tell God, ‘May your will be done’. Like I said, I was really looking forward to a new start and here it was. Losing my job at NTV was a platform for me to really find myself and find out exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Playing the role of mother to my siblings while my mother was in hospital taught me to treasure family love and that money wasn’t the answer to everything in life.

How did you get back on your feet?

It took time. I remember getting a job with an Asian broadcaster but quit in the middle of my second month. After this, I was invited to cover a sports event in Singapore and I even wrote articles for a top media house. They offered me a job, but I still turned it down.

How did you end up as a writer at Sports News Arena?

They called me when they were starting the website. I still wasn’t sure about taking up the job but they convinced me to give it a try. I had never written an article of more than 200 words before but they were willing to teach me.

Is this what you were looking forward to all this time?

The moment I started working here I knew this was the exact challenge I was looking for. I think it’s the best decision I have made so far. To crown it all, this is the platform that led to my CNN Africa Sports journalist of the year award.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Writing and hopefully winning more awards.

 

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