---
title: 'My Story: From Poverty to Global Fame'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=wLvFqwHzbNE'
video_id: 'wLvFqwHzbNE'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 685
---

# My Story: From Poverty to Global Fame

> Source: [My Story: From Poverty to Global Fame](https://youtube.com/watch?v=wLvFqwHzbNE)

## Summary

Raymond (Jondi) shares his journey from a small village in Tanzania to becoming a globally recognized dancer. He started with comedy videos, faced challenges including parental disapproval and financial struggles, but found his true passion in dancing with the support of his girlfriend Bella. His story highlights perseverance and following one's dreams.

### Key Points

- **Introduction and Background** [00:02] — Raymond introduces himself, born in Impanda, Tanzania, to a normal family with two sisters.
- **Education and Early Interest in Dance** [00:42] — From 2002-2008 primary school, then moved to Mbezi for boarding school. A friend introduced him to pop music, and he sneaked to internet cafes to watch music videos, becoming obsessed with dancing.
- **Teaching College and Comedy Beginnings** [02:10] — After secondary school, he attended teaching college (2013-2015) to please his parents. While waiting for a government job, he started making comedy videos using his parents' phone, inspired by a cousin.
- **Discovery and Conflict with Parents** [03:38] — His mother discovered his comedy videos when a stranger watched them on a bus. Initially forbidden, but after a heartfelt talk, his parents allowed him to continue.
- **Move to Dar es Salaam and Rise to Fame** [05:38] — In 2017, he accompanied his sister to Dar es Salaam. He received a DM from a TV show, participated, and became the most famous comedian in Tanzania, but struggled financially due to low pay.
- **Feeling Lost and Meeting Isabella** [07:52] — By 2022, he felt stuck and lost motivation. He met his girlfriend Isabella, a dancer, who encouraged him to take dancing seriously despite fan criticism.
- **Transition to Global Dance Fame** [09:40] — He persisted in posting dance videos, gradually gaining international followers from Europe, America, and South America. This fulfilled his dream of reaching a global audience through dancing.
- **Current Happiness and Gratitude** [10:29] — Raymond expresses happiness and gratitude for his journey, supporters, and the ability to see the world through dance.

### Conclusion

Raymond's story is a testament to persistence and following one's passion despite obstacles, leading to a fulfilling life and global recognition as a dancer.

## Transcript

might have seen this face somewhere on the internet before or maybe you never seen me before since a lot of people that been asking me to make this video today I decided that I'm going to tell you guys my story where I came from up
to where I am right now welcome my name is Raymond some of you guys know me as jondi I come from Tanzania I'm a dancer and I'm 29 years
old I was born in a small village called impanda Manda is located in West Tanzania I come from very normal family with my mom dad and I grew up with two with my mom dad and I grew up with two young sisters from 2002 to 2008 I went
to Primary School in impanda and when I finished 2009 my parents brought me to another city called MBE and it was very far it was like 600 km from Manda they better secondary school since this
school was a boarding school I didn't see my parents for months so I was kind of free to do whatever I want without my parents knowing so in this school I had this friend of mine who liked music a lot and our school didn't allow us a
phone but the guy had one so yeah we were listen music together he showed me a lot of artists like Michael Jackson Asha Raymond and I became so much into American pop music he used to tell me about their performances dancing videos
and I was so curious to see those vide videos for myself but in school we had only one hour a week that we were allowed to go out to buy some things so instead of buying things I used that chance to go to the Internet cafe to
chance to go to the Internet cafe to watch music videos I ended up liking the dancing even more than listening to the music I was so obsessed with dancing and I just wish to become dancer myself but in my school and Street there were no
dance classes so what I did instead is to keep going to those internet cafe copy the moves from the videos and practice myself from there I just practice practice practice after a few months people actually studed know me as
a dancer in that school so few years later I finished secondary school that was 2012 and 2013 I went to teaching college my parents are both teachers and they always wish me to become a teacher like
them even though I didn't want to but because I knew dancing was not an option I feel like I didn't have any option than to go to teaching college so that's what I did I was in teaching college for 2 years and after finishing in
2015 I had to go to live with my parents to wait for a job from the government I waited for one year and a half I think this is normal guys so yeah I waited for 1 year and a half during that time yeah I was just at home and I had nothing to
do to be honest like I was just being bored and helping my dad with farming then one day one of my cousins came home to visit me and told me that he started with this famous comedian who was making comment videos and posting them on
social media I was again very very inspired I was thinking maybe I could do something similar so because I didn't have anything to do with my parents have anything to do with my parents house I started making ComEd videos
myself but until that time I didn't have phone and I was so afraid to tell my parents about these ComEd videos so sometimes I stole their phone where they were taking an app and record my videos because they didn't know so much about
because they didn't know so much about phone so they didn't even realize that I downloaded Instagram on their phone and post all my videos there so after a while the videos actually started going well and within a very short time I got
a lot of followers I did like that for around 3 months then I couldn't hide anymore one day while my mom was in the bus on her way to walk the person sitting next to her was watching guess what one of my ComEd videos so of course
because my mom she is so curious she asked the guy what are you watching and that's where she found me so after she found out she didn't tell me immediately
but more and more people from her job and some of our family members they had seen my videos so they were calling her because they were concerned that I was because they were concerned that I was lost so she decided to confront me she
was angry and actually she didn't allow me to continue this made me feel very very bad I was so sad I was so disappointed because I finally found something that I was passionate about I loved making those ComEd videos I loved
making people laugh so it's really hard that my parent didn't support me the following days I was really down and my mom definitely noticed that so a few days later I decided to sit down and talk with my parents this was not normal
for me because honestly I have never spoken to them about my feeling or what spoken to them about my feeling or what I like but I chose to ask them to allow me to make those videos and luckily they felt sorry for me and they allowed me to
keep making comment videos so in 2017 my young sister eliet got a scholarship to go to stud in Dam the biggest city in Tanzania it's a 20-hour drive from where my parents are staying so my mom didn't want her to go alone
she asked me to go with her to help her with her admission a few days after I arrived in theem I received a DM from a person who run a huge TV show and they wanted me to participate in their next show and this changed everything I never
re return to my parents house and since my parents now watch me in the TV they my parents now watch me in the TV they also started believing more in me so I never took that job from the government that I was waiting for because I got
more and more and more opportunities in Dam I actually became the most famous comedian in Tanzania everyone they will recognized me in the street and this now became my job I now started earning from this I got so many Brank deals I work
with the biggest company in Tanzania everyone were looking up to me and they were thinking I was living a perfect life especially because this is how Tanzanian artists make it look like from the outside but it wasn't the reality
the companies were not paying well because social media in Tanzania was not that big at that point so I was still struggling with money and sometimes I didn't even know how I'm going to pay for my food for the coming week this
life of being famous in Tanzania became hard for me I had to pretend that I was rich just because I was famous I couldn't go anywhere because people they would recognize me and they would expect me to make jokes every time because they
knew me as a comedian and actually I'm a bit introvert so it didn't feel natural for me it was very hard to find out who were really friends and who were not everyone wanted to be friends with me and sometime it was because they thought
I had money this is how I was living my life until life until 2022 when I started feeling a bit lost I felt like I had achieved everything that there was to achieve as a comedian in
Tanzania I couldn't see a way to keep making new and interesting content anymore I had worked with so many big companies in Tanzania and I was still struggling to pay rent every month I just wasn't very motivated anymore and I
felt like I couldn't see how I could keep going like that for the rest of my keep going like that for the rest of my life but also something huge happen in 2022 that was the year that I met my girlfriend
Isabella hi well we'll tell you the story of how we met in another video but because she was a dancer we started making dancing videos together the time I met Isabella I was not taking dancing very serious I
think mostly it was because I thought it was a little bit embarrassing and cringe to show people that I like to dance because knew me as a comedian I did sometimes post Dance videos but I did it in a way where I was not serious at all
so that people wouldn't make fun of me so even the video that I made with Bella in the beginning I did it as a joke but Bella beli in me she really saw me as a good dancer she could see how passionate I was about dancing so this time around
I started being little bit more serious about posting Dance videos but many people started making fun of my videos many people started say things like why did you stop making ComEd videos this white girl is ruining your career bro
Now You're Just in Love you're not working anymore oh my God and many of them they were thinking that Bella was forcing me to dance and that she didn't support my ComEd career at all oh my
always supporting all my ideas both dancing and comedy videos but even though I experienced a lot of my fans being against what I was doing I still knew this is what I wanted I kept
posting more and more more Dance videos and slowly I started getting followers from other countries from Europe America South America this had always been my dream to reach the people from the rest of the world and now I was able to do
that through the thing that I love the most dancing it kept growing and because I had Bell by my side who I could always trust and who believed in me I was suddenly motivated again I felt I was able to change the way people they were
looking at me for the better and now you guys know me as a dancer and not a comedian I have never thought that I could be happy in my life that I am that I am right now I I need some ham right now
I I need some ham right now okay it's a dream come true for me and I have never thought that I could be happy that I am right now not only because of what I have achieved but also because I'm able to see the world and I have met
some of the most important people in my life through the thing that I'm doing so special thanks to all of you guys you guys changed my life so thank you guys I
really appreciate it it has taken me a long time to find a courage to shoot this video so I hope you guys you enjoyed it and you got to know me a little bit better and hopefully you will keep following my journey around the
keep following my journey around the world thank you guys for watching I got it yes