Seventeen Know Your City (KYC) TV Zimbabwe crew from Harare, Masvingo, Kadoma and Kariba gathered in Harare in July for a week long training workshop. The focus was on video production and social media management, both theory and practical. Some of the KYC TV crew participated in the filming of a video about the Gungano Urban Poor Fund, ahead of the formal workshop.
Africa is the world’s youngest and fastest urbanising continent, but the stories of young people in informal settlements are often overlooked in traditional media. In response, Slum Dwellers International (SDI) launched KYC TV, a creative collective made up of youth from across the SDI Network using photography, video and storytelling to mobilise young people to make change at a settlement, city and global level.
In the group, the youth displayed a wide range of skills from rapping, writing, filmmaking to music production. Some participants were more experienced looking to brush up on their skills, while others were new to the KYC TV collective. Rejoice Maridza, from the Golden Vision Savings Group in Masvingo, loves writing. Rejoice initiated this article for the SDI Stories of Change Blog and interviewed participants about their reactions to the workshop.
The crew received a warm welcome at the Crowborough Resource Centre from local savings group members designated to support and host City-to-City exchanges in Zimbabwe. Funded by the Gungano Urban Poor Fund and built by the local Federation, the Centre serves as a climate action hub and learning space. It also features a vegetable garden managed by SDI Climate Champions. The SDI Zimbabwe Alliance is a partnership between the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation, the Zimbabwe Young People’s Federation and the NGO, Dialogue on Shelter for the Homeless Trust (DOS).
Dialogue on Shelter’s KYC Youth Coordinator, Teurai Anna Nyamangara, coordinated the programme supported by Youth & Media Coordinator James Taylor and Advocacy and Communications Officer Esley Philander from the SDI Secretariat. Kudakwashe Nyasha Matsangaise, videographer and editor for KYC TV Zimbabwe, was “encouraged by the unified technical and theoretical foundation now established within the team. I am optimistic for the future of KYC TV Zimbabwe.”
Hannah Ndoro a KYC TV member from Bulawayo says she was excited to “create, develop and make an impact. We must use every opportunity that has been awarded to us as a stepping stone for telling rich hard data stories as Know Your City TV!”
Learning from Federation Leaders
Through SDI’s pioneering practices such as slum profiling, mapping and community led data collection to ensure that every informal settlement is mapped, made visible and support advocacy efforts for settlement upgrading. During the week, the KYC TV Zimbabwe crew also had the opportunity to meet with leaders of the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation and members of local savings groups in the Tafara settlement. Federation members shared their experiences leading community-driven slum upgrading projects, securing land tenure, improving access to essential services and the importance of savings groups and revolving funds.
Stellamaris Maradzamunda, a producer with KYC TV and member of the Crowborough Youth Savings Group, shared, “Savings is not something you can ignore. These groups change lives by fighting poverty and helping people in vulnerable communities secure land and build climate-resilient homes.” Philda Shekete, from KYC TV in Harare, added, “Through collaboration, young women can be empowered to collect data that helps advocate for real solutions to the challenges we face in informal settlements.”
Glenview Area 8 Market
The team also visited Glenview Area 8, Zimbabwe’s largest informal furniture market, to document the stories of SDI members who earn their living there.
Stella says that, “through the data collection and needs assessment done by the Federation, we saw that there was a need for proper toilets, especially for women. There was borehole but it was failing to meet the demand. Now, we have managed to build toilets and install two more boreholes through the support from ACRC so that there is water, especially since sometimes there are fire outbreaks at the market.”
Dezzel Chris Chinyama from Kariba said he appreciated learning about video production and podcast creation. He adds that this will not only help his federation, but he is looking into content creation for possible income generating opportunities.
Tendai Paradza from Kadoma says that, “I learnt that social media is a double edged sword, and how to verify data and beware of scammers online!”
Closing Ceremony, Opening Possibilities
At the closing ceremony, each participant received a Certificate of Participation. While the Certificates were being handed out, KYC TV crew shared out loud each individual’s contribution and talents displayed during the workshop.
Patience Mudimu, the Executive Director as well as George Masimba, Head of Programmes of the Dialogue on Shelter Trust attended the ceremony. Patience encouraged the KYC TV Zimbabwe collective that “there is no story that is too small. But now you can capture it in a much more professional manner. That is what we are expecting and hoping out of this training,”
She added, “Who else can you teach? Because you now teachers as well, you have skills you can pass on to other young people.”
