Working in partnership with the BBC Swahili Service, we are producing and broadcasting Kimasomaso - a weekly radio programme about sexual health - to 4.5 million listeners in East Africa.
Start date: 2002
End date: 2009
Media types: radio, internet
Issue: health
Countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, DRC, Rwanda and Burundi
Through listening to Kimasomaso, I have since changed my lifestyle
Male university student
The objective of the programme is to provide young people with accurate information about sexual and reproductive health and their rights and entitlements under the law.
The programme leaves listeners to form their own opinions and make their own decisions about their personal behaviour.
"Through listening to Kimasomaso, I have since changed my lifestyle. I have realised I have to be careful when it comes to relationships. I have a responsibility to take care of myself, and of my health."
Male university student
True stories
Kimasomaso ('Speak out boldly') consists of audio diaries from real people who are going through experiences that resonate with listeners across the region.
For example, audio diaries have been contributed by:
- A newly pregnant school girl dealing with the personal, social and health implications of her situation
- A teenage girl whose mother is HIV+ and her first hand knowledge of living with the virus
- Lena, a young commercial sex worker on the streets of Dar Es Salaam talked frankly about her personal and professional life
The programme is recorded, mixed and edited in Nairobi weekly
Each programme contains contributions from at least one audio diarist, as well as discussion of the issues raised in the diaries and reports on related themes.
Kimasomaso is broadcast to the whole of Kiswahili speaking East Africa. As a result, the production team in Nairobi sought to include audio diaries from all the countries in the region - Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, DRC, Rwanda and Burundi, and rural areas as well as the main towns and cities.
Reach
Kimasomaso has a regular audience of at least 4.5 million listeners between the ages of 15 and 34
Working in partnership
Kimasomaso is co-produced and broadcast by the BBC Swahili Service. The programme is recorded, mixed and edited in Nairobi weekly.
According to a BBC survey in October 2003, 18 million (11.5m in Tanzania, and 5.6m in Kenya with the balance made up of smaller Kiswahili speaking audiences in DRC, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda) listen to the BBC Swahili Service.
The Swahili Service has distribution deals with local FM radio stations, which are reaching increasingly large audiences.
