Qiesto Community Series : Meet Edwin Mariwa (Digital Storyteller & Marketer)

Edwin Mariwa is a third-year student at the African Leadership University Rwanda. He’s a self-taught digital storyteller and marketer. He has worked with a number of agencies including his own university. He’s a member of the Qiesto community and here is his journey.

It’s really difficult being away from your home country on a budget but that was the case for me.

I left high school in 2016 and was drawn into the rush of building myself a better future. Off school, I joined PACE as a volunteer teacher while learning to build websites from templates. It somehow worked because I got two gigs that allowed me to have some fun.

All these things, however, had a big effect: they drew me to strive harder. It was in this vein that I applied to the African Leadership University, Rwanda and luckily got admitted.

Then came the first hiccup, my parents felt it was quite an expensive option as my fairly good performance at the exit exams had earned me a place at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. After some back and forth, concessions were made; I took a no-frills journey to the land of a thousand hills.

Arriving in Kigali that September was a leap of faith given that I was part of the first cohort at the campus there but it isn’t faith the foundation for blessings?

As the college was still new, students were roped in to help run the college. I took on a number of roles and in the process was in charge of photography on campus with a DSLR camera to boot.

The circumstances I found myself in forced me fast into the hustle and soon I was the go-to photographer for ALU students in Kigali. That is how I was gradually drawn into the other verticals of telling digital storytelling, starting with videography.

Fast forward two years later, with a few gigs under my belt, I co-founded a digital storytelling agency that has since grown to support a number of clients including my college.

I really consider myself lucky to have been part of this adventure and in my opinion, there is need for more initiatives that can create the next generation of employable Africans.

And that’s the precise reason why I joined the Qiesto.

You know, my journey has been incredible and it has allowed me the chance to learn and improve- something many young Africans cannot even dream of. Another thing is that such platforms allow people to prove themselves and build a network that will allow them to monetize their skills.

I think we have a big crisis right now. A majority of young people are leaving school with skills they cannot sell. For me, I think it was luck that allowed me to find mine early and monetize them.

Digital storytelling is a huge gold mine that a lot of young Africans can take advantage of and they can only do this with the right exposure.

And that’s where organisations like Qiesto come in.

I pretty much would encourage as many young people as possible to give their digital storytelling skills a try. They can do this via the Qiesto Challenge that’s happening in partnership with the Irede Foundation.

It’s a great opportunity to work on a real-world project similar to what ALU offered me, only that it allows more people the chance to learn.

I consider myself a lifelong learner and I intend to continually learn more ways to tell African stories better and help continental brands chase the world, which I deem a proposition desirable to many all over the globe. I would also like to encourage as many young Africans as possible not sleep on opportunities that come their way.