African young writers discuss the future of telling their own stories through Sauti Zetu Podcast

By Elias Hakizimana.

SAUTI ZETU is a Swahili term directly translating to mean ‘our voices’. The online platform, sautizetu.com, was established after having realized that the African story has been told by foreigners for centuries. The platform was formed to allow Africas youth, who are interested, to tell their own stories through writing.

Members of this online platform, Sauti Zetu are young storytellers, poets, and creative writers living in Africa and in diaspora, with diverse education and social backgrounds.

Sauti Zetu’s members as well as the co-founders believe that the online platform, which currently includes articles, music, and the most recently launched Chambua podcast, will leave a footprint in the lives of millions of people across the world.

The name of the podcast, Chambua, another word derived from the Swahili language means “to Dissect”. The podcast, formed by George Ndahiro, Founder of Sauti Zetu, will address some of the most challenging and controversial topics that continue to plague Mama Africa today such as employment, success, finances, religion, relationships and much, much more.

Speaking during the online launch party of Chambua Podcast on Thursday evening of July 8, 2021, George Ndahiro, who is also Head Strategic and Chief Editor of Sauti Zetu said that this organization has been trying to support young people to delve into their creative passions through writing, music, and more. Ndahiro’s long term goal is to see how to support some of the youth’s business ideas as well as create employment opportunities.

The meeting brought together various young adults including current member writers of Sauti Zetu and their friends from Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda. Participants discussed various subjects including how they can tap into business opportunities in the near future.

A concern that was addressed by one of the webinar participants was the need to recognize that in this current day and age, a good number of Africa’s youth are not motivated to read let alone write. Sauti Zetu founders addressed this concern by proposing that the use of audio, through podcasts as well as auditory storytelling, might help alleviate those concerns. The goal for Sauti Zetu is to continue to have engaging conversations with the writers who can share inspiring messages to the rest of Africa. With time, as the Sauti Zetu online platform grows, the founders aspire to widen the contributors to include stories from other African countries outside of the current East African region.

“We encourage people to continue to read and write even as we embark on the use of more favourable media platforms. We promote the culture of storing not only the worst, but also the best of Africa’s History and Heritage for future generations to come” said Daphne Aketch, Sauti Zetu’s Co – Founder and Senior Designer.

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