Our two newest Flowstars, Fabio de Abreu and Jaffar Chiosa, have a few things in common: they are passionate web developers, doting fathers and have similar retirement plans.
Says Fabio: "My retirement plan is to own an olive farm and lie on the beach all day."
Jaffar’s dream retirement? "To live a natural life, wake up in nature and be surrounded by trees and livestock."
Between them they have 17 years’ experience in web and desktop development (Fabio has five years and Jaffar 12 years). Asked why they chose web development as a career, their answers are pretty straightforward.
"I enjoy creating visual presentations of what graphic designers come up with, and making buttons move," says Fabio.
For Jaffar, it’s about the challenges of creating a new website: "Every project is new to what you’ve done previously; it’s like you are exploring every day, and the nature of the job is that it’s always changing, with new technologies and web languages to learn."
Fabio is of Portuguese descent and what he loves most about his heritage is the food. He enjoys Portuguese chicken and seafood. Jaffar is from Malawi; he moved to South Africa in 1996, first making Durban his home for 10 years, then moving to Johannesburg. He visits his family in Malawi once a year. Here, he resides with his wife of 10 years, Rookaya, and their three children: Amatulla, Tufail and Umair.
Fabio has had an interesting past few months: he moved house; got engaged to long-term girlfriend Tyne (they’ve been together for five years); enjoyed his wedding day and honeymoon; and then experienced the birth of his son, Raphael Grant Gomes.
On being a father, Fabio says that when parents tell you you’ll never love anything as much as your baby, this really is the case. "I literally cannot wait to go home and see him. Sure, I haven’t had a proper sleep in ages, but I’m so happy."
Flow’s web development manager, Reatile Tshikalange, gives a warm welcome to Jaffar and Fabio.
"Fabio, aka Fabiolous, brings a dynamic attitude to the team. He is a perfect fit, with many years of experience and the intention to grow further. Jaffar, in a more senior role, has been a great asset in taking over the projects I've been working on. He brings a calming presence with years of experience."