“Shujaaz” (Heroes) is a two-time Emmy Award-winning multimedia platform in Kenya and launched in Tanzania designed to engage young people (aged 15-24) in a big conversation to take action and share good ideas that they can use to improve their lives.
It's is the story of 19-year-old Boyie, who has completed his school education but hasn’t been able to find work. Boyie however has a secret: he is actually DJ B, host of Kenya’s biggest "pirate" radio show "Shujaaz.fm."
DJ B’s story is told across multiple platforms: a monthly comic book with 48 million distributed free since 2010, a syndicated FM radio with over 3.2 million listeners, social media pages with millions of interactions each year, two national TV stations every week and mobile phones which received 168,000 text messages in one year.
For the first time in Kenya, youth are talking nationwide about what's important for them and sharing ideas about how to improve their lives.
This article is part of a series by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that culminates on World Contraception Day. Check out more stories about global health and other important issues at the Impatient Optimists blog.
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About the author
DJ B
DJ B is a 19-year-old Kenyan who uses multimedia to engage the youth of Kenya and Tanzania in a conversation about good ideas to improve their lives.