We care that every person living in a community participates in the processes that affect them. Using social marketing, we are working towards ensuring that the marginalised are seen, heard and accommodated.
We started a video series called #TheInvisible to tell the stories of rural people who live on the periphery of modern society. They are without formal identification documents, are functionally illiterate and are often not involved in the processes that affect their lives. The goal of this series of videos is to demonstrate that even while cities modernise at an exponential rate every day, rural people are being left further and further behind, and that there is need to start being deliberate about bringing them to the fore.
The creative sector in Kenya tends to be defined by the people who live in the country’s major cities. They make more money, network better, do more collaborations, are more likely to travel abroad and have better access to resources they need to produce their content.
In rural Kenya, creatives network less, work individually, are less exposed to the information, ideas and resources they need to create regularly, have less motivation to pursue their creativity as a source of livelihood and earn little money from their work. As we have come to learn, there are others who are creatives but they don’t know yet that they are!
Kibaraza means meeting. We have been bringing together as many young people as we can find in Malindi, Kilifi County, to meet and talk over a cup of tea and mahamri every month. We meet with writers, musicians, videographers, photographers, thespians, journalists and other content creators to discuss the issues they are facing, possible opportunities, avenues for collaboration and to exchange knowledge.
We also bring experienced gurus from Nairobi to come and interact with these guys so that they may develop mental models of what they could be if they pursued their talents to the furthest extent. The conversations also include capacity building – from personal branding, running oneself as a business, best industry practices, new ideas and more.
Social media has made it possible for everyone to contribute to conversations going on locally and globally. We are working with rural youths to use social media to tell their own stories and to shed light on the experiences, perspectives and notions that define the way that they live