Editor

“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’”
- George Bernard Shaw

I am inspired by my dreams, and I have long aspired to launch a magazine. I have never doubted my ability to bring this to fruition. When I embarked on this journey, I repeatedly asked myself the following questions:

• What impact will I have on our society or better yet what will make Elegance Magazine a “must read” and the best in the industry!

• How can I put up a good talented team who would have the equal interest I have on the magazine

I cannot recall the number of times I’ve called it off because of my  perfectionist tendencies.  I believe that whatever that’s worth doing is worth doing well.  I was also too busy then . “Man buguma yefi deffantu suma def dara damasey dem beh jeeh,  walla duma ko start”. But my big heart believed in making it happen; by forging a good team of professionals. I am eager to learn from them and them; learn from me.

We opened a Facebook group in May and surprisingly we have attracted over 3,000 members!  This means a readership of 3 fold … i.e. 15,000! With such high numbers, this is incredible support and interest … this also means advertising potential.  I think, we can assure interested companies to advertise with Elegance and let Elegance do the hard work of spreading their news for them.

We launched an aggressive advertisement drive on Facebook and the results so far have been awesome! It was a real eye-opener to discover they were that many people interested in a proper Gambian magazine. In fact I receive countless messages daily from fans enquiring about the hardcopy’s release date! I assure you all that by the grace of God we will deliver soon after the Ramadan .  For now you can reach us on Facebook and on our website right up to our launch date.

We have also taken the decision to lower the minimum target audience from 16 to 10 years of age. ….lol …..as we have been inundated with requests from young boys and girls asking whether we will have a kiddies section covering things like video games etc.

“Ham na ney  dama dey taga suma bopa”   ..y sunch release sey yape lerr. Dee lenn nyan ngen japalema, nyuii tey tey bey ega fanch jame. … In English, baby steps, with your kind support until we reach the pinnacle …. LOL

Once again I express my gratitude to the friends of Elegance Magazine for their valuable words of encouragement and advice. I will not disappoint you …”Insha Allah”. “Yal na nyu  Yalla meyy fekey” to watch this magazine grow, develop and manifest into this very real thing that was once a seed of an idea into a profound experience.

To our readership in the Diaspora and back in The Gambia, we welcome dialogue and constructive criticism with open arms and hope to learn from it. It is THE people’s magazine and your opinions count; they matter and without your support it would have been just a seed and nothing more.

I thank Allah for making us live to see this day, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my mum for her unwavering support. She takes my weakness and makes me stronger. Here comes my favorite quote: “ Mama you gave life to me, you turned a baby into a lady, turned a young one into a woman” . I will love you forever. To all my family, friends, well wishers and the entire Elegance readership :

“Aferr bee yen la”

CEO/EDITOR
Elegance Magazine