Live from Johannesburg: The Moth Radio Hour

The Moth

A live episode of The Moth Radio Hour recorded in Johannesburg, South Africa, featuring stories from across the African continent under the

Key takeaways

• Personal transformation often arises from deeply emotional or traumatic experiences, such as loss or familial conflict.
• Innovation can be driven by personal conviction, especially when addressing critical health issues like childhood pneumonia.

Main topics

• Personal resilience
• Innovation in healthcare technology

Notable quotes

"I was doomed." – Brian Turiabadje, reflecting on missing his sister's wedding due to a flight delay.

Conclusion

The episode closes with a heartfelt celebration of the audience's energy, the power of

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:13) This is the Moth Radio Hour. I'm Sarah Austin-Janess. This episode was recorded live in Johannesburg. The theme of the show was We Rise, with storytellers from Uganda, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. The Johannesburg audience, as you'll hear, is one of the liveliest we've had. Johannesburg Moth Shows are sold out and standing room only. And that's because of our friend, publicist, fashion designer, DJ, style icon who knew absolutely everyone, Maria McCloy. Maria passed away shortly after this event, and this episode is dedicated to her memory. Thank you for everything, Maria. Speaker 3 (0:56) So, live at the University of Johannesburg, here's our host, poet, playwright, artist, maker, and one of Maria McCloy's dearest friends, Lebo Mishila. Thank Speaker 5 (1:11) you so much. Evening to you, ladies and gentlemen. Days and Dems, welcome. Speaker 5 (1:28) It is my pleasure and honor to be your host once again. My name is Leboma Sheila. I've been entrusted with the wonderful responsibility of helping all of us navigate these waters tonight. You sold out this show in record time. Speaker 5 (1:49) Tonight's theme is We Rise. And we have storytellers from across our beautiful continent. We are here because we believe in the transformative power of storytelling. We believe that we will be injected with hope and inspiration and the fuel that we need to go on and do the things that we've got to do with our lives tonight. So are you ready to get started? Speaker 5 (2:21) I asked each of our storytellers one question. We can all fall down, everybody does, but what is one thing that you need in your toolbox to stand up, to rise up? When I asked our first storyteller, who comes all the way from Uganda, Speaker 5 (2:52) fall down but what's one thing you need in your toolbox to rise up and Brian Turiabadje, I'm sad, Wi-Fi. Please give Speaker 4 (3:01) it Speaker 5 (3:02) up Speaker 4 (3:02) for Brian Turiabadje. Speaker 2 (3:16) So in Uganda when a girl is about to get married the bride's family normally have what they call the giveaway ceremony where they formally hand her over to the groom's family and this is normally followed by the wedding ceremony like after a week or so. So my sister's wedding was the one big function we were holding at home in over 30 years. And me being the little brother, the whole event felt so emotional for me, as it brought back all the little childhood memories, like how she used to boss me around and I pretended not to care. At that time, I was 25 and I was fresh off quitting my banking job, dead set on becoming an entrepreneur. My dad was already on the edge. First of all, between the giveaway ceremony, the wedding logistics, and now his son willing walking away from a job which had just tripled his salary. To him, it was like watching someone sell a luxury car for a wheelbarrow and just smile about it. Former employment was his love language. So at that point, when I told him I was quitting my job, the whole thing felt like I was joining a cult. But deep down, I wasn't just being dramatic. Pneumonia is a disease which kills over 1 million children every year, and most of these in low-resource settings. And to me this wasn't just a statistic. My own grandmother had died because of pneumonia. And it was out of that conviction that I had to quit my banking job, because I was a telecom engineer, to focus my energies on innovating a technology that could help in detecting this pneumonia. Speaker 2 (4:55) So me and my group, I had invented an immunotecting jacket that could be used by health workers by simply listening to the lung sounds from the chest, but also analyzing them and alerting health workers when it is still too early. So I was all in for this new technology. But when, at that point, when an opportunity came in for me to go to South Africa right in the middle of the wedding week, I found myself at Crossroads. Speaker 2 (5:21) First of all, I could be the reliable groomsman to my sister's wedding. Or else I could take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to advance my invention, pneumonia. So what did I do? I decided to do the most optimistic thing a 25-year-old can do. I decided to do both. Besides, the wedding was going to be like within two to three days, so I realized I had a lot of time. It could be back in time. So I secretly boarded that flight to South Africa while I was pretending to be actively involved in the wedding preparations via text. Speaker 2 (6:03) Meanwhile here in Johannesburg, the meetings were very productive but also exhaustive. I mean, I explained my technology to all these investors, demonstrated them how the piece of the technology was working from A to Z, but even showed them the different case studies that we had done with the technology. My trip in Johannesburg was like a make-or-break because my business was young and this kind of funding is what would drive my invention forward. So after a series of those meetings, I went back to my hotel. And on the last day as I was checking out, the fan that casually asked me, like, hey, I would like to offer you an extra night. Would you be in for it? Well, at that point, at 25, the extra night meant nice beddings, Speaker 5 (6:48) the Speaker 2 (6:49) fluffy towels, and most importantly, the free nice breakfast buffet. So this was a no-brainer for me. Speaker 2 (7:00) The next day, the Friday, I woke up to my breakfast and I just ate like a king. Pancakes, more pancakes and whatever else could fit on my plate. I had timed everything perfectly, that is to finish all my breakfast but also make it just in time for my flight. And five minutes before my Uber could arrive, he texted, an accident. At that point I started panicking. Every minute became like an hour. And I quickly rushed onto my phone and I had to order for another Uber to take me to the airport. Which miraculously came on time. Things were looking good until I realized I couldn't check in online as I was heading to the airport. And at that point, my only hope was to find the airline's counter open. As soon as I reached the airport, I was met by this stand airline officer who with zero emotion told me I was five minutes too late. Five minutes? I begged, I pleaded, nothing. Instead he just pointed me to the rebooking desk and told me that I would have to pay a hefty cancellation fee and on top of that that my flight would be arriving the next day. I Speaker 1 (8:09) was doomed. Speaker 2 (8:11) Now for those of you unfamiliar with African geography, the distance from Johannesburg to Kampala is like a 62 hour drive. So there's no way I was even going to use the road to get there. And remember this was my sister's wedding, who had always been there for me. She even helped me with upkeep when mine ran out when we were in boarding school back then. And much more than that, she had asked me to be a groomsman, and now I was nowhere to be seen. And my dad, he was still angry at me for having quit my banking job to focus on what he called those jackets. And my entire family had always been the humble, reliable person. I was the last person they would expect to pull off a cross-border disappearance act just in the middle of a wedding wedding. And at that point, I realized I was just on my own. So I quickly panicked and I started searching for alternative flights to get me back in Kampala. And luckily I was able to land onto an option which would work for me. So quickly I booked it up and I was ready to get in through my check-in formalities. So I checked in, went through and after reaching the gate I just sat down thinking of the entire miracle that had happened to me, being able to make it for the wedding at that point in time. As I just settled down, I just double checked this cheapest ticket which I had just bought. And that's when I noticed that the ticket I had bought had a 10 hour layover in Tegeli Rwanda before going to Kampala Yuga. At that point I felt like the entire world was me. I started remembering all the time I'd been busy pretending to my family that I was involved in the wedding preparations. Here I was very far off. Speaker 2 (9:53) But anyway, I settled on for the flight, and by the time I was in Rwanda, I was already too exhausted, and I decided to just take a nap on those airport chairs, which I think were clearly made by someone who hates human beings. Sleep was just impossible. I couldn't sleep. But in the middle of that confusion, a thought came into my mind. What if I get a bus from Kigali, Rwanda, which is next to the western part of Uganda? I could make it in time. So determined, I rose up, went and convinced the airline officers and also the airport formalities and who were able to actually let me through. And just like that, I was on a bus. Just like a miracle of miracles, I arrived in the waiting area 15 minutes before the wedding could start. At that point, I was very dusty, hungry, and purely running on adrenaline. And I decided to rush into the nearest barber shop to work on my hair so that I could fit well into my groomsman role. And as soon as I pushed the door to open, there he was. My dad. Seated calmly in the barber chair like he had all the time in the world. So he looked at me in the mirror and he's like, hey, where are you coming from? Of course I had all my luggage and all my bags, I couldn't lie anymore. It's like South Africa, long story. So he's like, so you went to South Africa just in the middle of the wedding without telling me? At that point things were becoming hard and I decided to be healthy and invested in my side plans. Speaker 2 (11:32) Then just before the barber could brush the last hairs off my neck, I glanced onto my phone and I saw a text from my sister. It's like, hey, we couldn't get a