Diaspora Entertainment Awards & Recognition (DEAR Awards) is the first awards of its kind celebrating Kenyans in every part of the globe who have flourished in academia, entertainment, fashion and design, entrepreneurship, community organization, and music. DEAR also recognizes Africans at large who have made a positive impact in their respective countries. The awards, if I may borrow word for word from their website:” seeks to recognize such individuals for their selfless sacrifices and continued success in the community”.
Inception of DEAR
The growth of DEAR awards has been phenomenal since its first edition in 2015. Now in its fourth year, DEAR has become one of the most talked about award ceremony in this part of the world especially during this time of the year.
Categories
In the 2017 edition of the premier awards, the categories were 20, three less than the previous year. The categories were: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Model, Best Female Artist, Best Male Artist, Best Music (Secular), Best Music (Gospel), Best Spiritual/ Motivational Speaker, Best Comedian, Best Media/ TV/ Journalism, Best Entrepreneur, Best Community Organizer, Outstanding Business/Agency, Professional Home Health Care (Winner), Best Photographer, Best Fashion Designer, Best Humanitarian, Youth Empowerment, Honor Award, Lifetime Achievement Award and Friends of Africa.
Who founded the Awards
DEAR was founded by DR Pam Mogaka. In an interview with theinformerke.com in 2017, Dr Pam said the idea behind the award ceremony was to recognize people who have done exceptionally well in the community but nobody celebrates them. She said of the awards: The motivation behind Diaspora entertainment and recognition awards (DEAR) ceremony was the fact that we have people in our community who have done exceptionally well but are not recognized at all. We have Kenyans who have excelled as actors, actresses, singers and models but they have not been accepted in Hollywood-we wanted to create a platform for our own people to be appreciated and accepted for their hard work. The platform also awards the youths who have done exceptionally well in their fields”.
Dr Pam is also the CEO of Empower the Princess International, a not for profit organization “that works to assure equality for those who are discriminated against, girls and women in particular.”
Other interesting facts about Dr Pam
The successful Dr Pam Show is her baby. The show talks about health and other topical issues
She has four children
She is trained journalist running her own TV and Radio show
Manages Malikia USA
The annual award ceremony will be held at the Marroit Hotel on 1 sept 2018.
