Sometime in March 2016, this thirty-something year old lady living in Houston Texas went to attend the funeral ceremony of her godfather Uncle Skip, who incidentally was also a godfather to the singer, Beyonce. As the story goes, Kristin Douglas, the thirty-something year old subject of this piece and Kelsi Leggett, her sister, were photographed with Beyonce. Kelsi Leggett posted the photo online, without Kristin’s knowledge and Kristin’s life never was the same again.
The photo went viral with references to “Beyonce’s bootylicious ‘cousin’, Kristin. Literarily speaking, Kristin Douglas had broken the internet as her Instagram followership skyrocketed from just five hundred to more than one hundred thousand in just a few days. Within that little timeframe, search engine results had turned up thousands of entries with the ‘Kristin Douglas’ keyword. Behold, an internet celebrity was born.
Funny enough, Kristin is not such a close cousin of Beyonce in the sense of it, though some distant bloodline may have been shared somewhere, just as the same godfather was shared (making them ‘god-cousins’?). Anyways, Kristin herself had come out to say she was not a Beyonce cousin, in an interview she had granted TMZ, at the beginning of her internet fame.
But then, that is old news.
Latest gist has it Kristin Douglas was in Nigeria between Thursday 21st April and left on Monday 25th April 2016.
Kristin Douglas had come for what she had thought would be a quiet, ‘private visit’, but which turned otherwise. According to sources, the nurse and mother of two wanted to visit Africa as part of her fact-finding efforts to help raise awareness for the plight of the needy, across the world. Though Kristin Douglas had initially planned to visit either Kenya or South Africa, some of her friends not only prevailed on her to visit Nigeria first but also actively supported her tour and ended up turning it into a ‘not-so-private visit’ after all.
Places she visited during her tour included Modupe Cole Memorial Child Care and Treatment Home, Akoka, Yaba and Hearts of Gold Hospice, Surulere, both in Lagos. It was said that Kristin Douglas donated food items and personal care products to the physically and mentally challenged in both places. She also visited the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Games Village, Abuja where with the help of Dr. (Mrs.) Shade Samuel of Helping Hands Foundation, she got first-hand information about the plight of IDPs and made donations which were appreciated by inhabitants of the camp.
Kristin Douglas was also in Keffi, Nassarawa State, at the premises of Dr. Simon Agwale’s Innovative Biotech Limted, which has a multipurpose vaccine plant, where nanosilver mineral solution which boosts immunity is also produced. Agwale has been in the forefront of research for the cure of HIV and Ebola in Africa and the world.
Kristin’s visit to Nigeria was not without some social activities, though. In Lagos, she was hosted by friends, at Club Quilox in Victoria Island. In Abuja, she worshiped at Apostle Yemi Adefarasin’s Kingdom Lifeline Apostolic Ministries (KLAM) and was treated to a dinner by the management of Transcorp Hilton Abuja.
According to a source close to Inventrica Multimedia, the African division of Inventrica LLC, USA which works with Kristin Douglas, “Kristin is all out not only to reach out to the needy, but also to tell the world to support the deprived, the displaced and the diseased (the three Ds) -people, who are disadvantaged by circumstances of birth or physical, mental, natural, geographic challenges or acts of terrorism. This much she expressed during an interview on Cool FM radio in Lagos.”
Obviously, this trained nurse is using the opportunity of her newly-found internet celebrity status to care for the needy. Any other similarly-lucky celeb would probably have used that sudden spotlight to glide on the runway of gossip and paparazzi (remember the Kardashians?).
So, the question: is Nurse Kristin Douglas the Mother Theresa of our time? Or, looking at her from a Marketing prism, can she be seen as a global brand in the making? Whichever way the opinion swings, it appears this American nurse has depth beyond the initial mould of the curvaceous beauty into which she had been cast. Beyond that initial ‘bootylicious’ noise, I believe Kristin Douglas may be the right ambassador for any brand or non-profit with eyes on the global market.
See some photos of Kristin Douglas’ Nigerian tour below.
At Modupe Cole Memorial Child Care & Treatment Home, Lagos
With Mrs. Laja Adedoyin of Hearts of Gold Hospice, Surulere, Lagos
At the IDP Camp…Asking a displaced mother some questions
Innovative Biotech Limited, Keffi, Nassarawa State, with Dr. Simon Agwale
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