Shujaaz

The Shujaaz stories follow the adventures of four regular characters, Boyie, Maria Kim, Charlie Pele, and Malkia. Boyie, the main character, is an inspirational school leaver with dreadlocks and glasses who sets up a pirate radio station in his bedroom. With power and authority monopolised by an older generation that has proven to be devoid of ideas, the underlying message of Shujaaz is that it's time for young Kenyans to take charge of their own futures.

According to the producers, the idea behind Shujaaz is simple - that getting messages out to young people is easier if one engages them through popular culture and the right language. The content of the comics has in part been determined by partnerships with development organisations who assist with message development and funding. For example, Shujaaz received funding from the United Kingdom (UK) Department for International Development (DFID)-funded Research into Use (RIU) Best Bets programme and therefore focused on messages related to agricultural research outputs. The project has also partnered with another Best Bets project, Farm Input Promotions Africa (FIPS-Africa), which is now the project's major source of agricultural storylines. In the first issue, for example, the comic dealt with the loss of baby chicks to birds of prey, which is a major issue affecting people's livelihoods in rural areas. The comic offered a proven and simple solution to this problem, which is painting chicks with gentian violet. This turns them pink and renders them uninteresting to birds of prey.

Starting in July 2010, there will be three special editions of the Shujaaz comic focusing on the Proposed Constitution of Kenya. The special editions are being developed in collaboration with the Committee of Experts (COE) and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.

The print-run for 'chapta 1' of the comic was more than 500,000 copies. These were distributed as free inserts in the Daily Nation newspaper and also through mobile phone giant Safaricom's nationwide network of Mpesa (money transfer) dealers. This combination ensures distribution to urban as well as rural areas and also makes them available throughout the month. Since then, the project has received additional investment and circulation has grown to 600,000 copies per month and an anticipated readership of 12 million.

The monthly comic is complemented by daily FM radio broadcasts. The Shujaaz.fm daily radio show launched on Qfm (nationwide) and is also being syndicated to Koch FM, Pamoja FM, and Lake Victoria Radio, with other stations expected to join to achieve the widest possible regional distribution.

Shujaaz also has in place an SMS (text messaging) system through which it can engage directly with its youthful readers and listeners. In its first days, the Shujaaz SMS service was receiving approximately 100 texts a day from readers of the comic and listeners to the radio programmes. Additional mobile phone-based applications are also in the pipeline.

The project also has a website which offers news and information on the characters, online access to the latest version of the comic, and links to video animations of the comics (see example below). A television spin-off of Shujaaz is also planned.

The comic is written and drawn by young Kenyans based in Nairobi. RIU recently introduced Well Told Story to British comic book legend and Beano contributor, Hunt Emerson, who visited the creative team to offer assistance. About the project, Hunt said: "My part has been to help discover and inspire young, new artists, and to work with them on how best to produce a comic book. This has included showing them how to work as a 'studio', collaborating with each other to produce strips on time, to deadline, using each other's talents in the best ways, with the notion that the finished pages are more important than the individual contributions. I am very impressed with the talents that are coming to light, resulting in work that stands comparison with anything drawn in the UK."

For more information, contact:
Well Told Story
P.O. Box 1700
Nairobi
00502
Kenya
Tel: + 254 (0)20 883121
Fax: + 254 (0)719 407512
djb@shujaaz.fm

Youth, Agriculture, Economic Development, Democracy and Governance.