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Kenya: Citizen Journalism of the Kibera News Network

Categories: Sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya, Arts & Culture, Economics & Business, Film, Media & Journalism, Youth

Young people in Kibera, Kenya, which is known to some as Africa's largest slum, are determined to show a different face of the place where they live. With video cameras in hand, they scout the streets for stories to show the world [1] how Kibera sees itself.

The project started in April 2010, spearheaded by Map Kibera [2] and Kibera Community Development Agenda (KCODA) [3]. They began with just two young journalists and now the team is up to 14 young people who record the videos, edit and upload them to the web: not only to their own website Kibera News Network [4] but also to Voice of Kibera [5], a site which maps their videos and also other news sent in by people via SMS and other mediums.

Kibera News Network in Kenya [6]

Kibera News Network in Kenya

Content is very varied: from job security issues, to reporting fires or train accidents, as well as cultural events and political activity.  This next video [7], for example, shows how two young men have turned to a somewhat unusual, for Kibera, employment: they own and work at a beauty salon, providing services such as manicures as well as hairstyling:

In this other video [8] we visit Kevin Irungu, a  young man who earns a living from his art:

Both of the previous examples show how creativity and hard work pay off. However, for others in Kibera making a living is a constant struggle as demonstrated by these washerwomen [9] who work hard and sometimes don't even get paid:

In Kibera, health is an important issue [10]: open sewage trenches and high population density means that communicable diseases can quickly spread. Added to the fact that many people don't have the economic resources to buy medication a disease can easily turn into an epidemic:

You can see more of the videos in the Kibera News Network [4]site or on their YouTube channel [11].