INTRODUCTION TAZAMA

What started as a practice for second year KFI students now includes a television program on Tanzanian Broadcasting Company viewed by over two million people from all over Tanzania. Tazama Tz! is a series of 15 television programs per season about life of Tanzanians. It is a thirty-minute documentary programme, which is interesting for the whole family: a show full of stories, made by and made for people from Tanzania.

Tazama TZ! came in existence because of the lack of good quality television programmes about Tanzania. This is what inspired KFI students to make a qualitative programme that touch base with ordinary people in Tanzania. Tazama Tz!tackles important issues, shed new lights on old myths and get Tanzanians really talking about what it is to be Tanzanian. The production of Tazama Tz!has now become part and parcel of KFI’s second years curriculum. By producing Tazama Tz!students learn how to produce television programs. Tazama TZ!

The television program includes 3-4 short stories per 30 minutes. The stories vary from serious, investigative to playful and from journalistic to lifestyle.  Tazama TZ! stories include subjects such as:

• Interesting People | Example: Mama Veronica Shija, a 57 year old mother from Morogoro, who works as a night guard and is also student in a Nursery School.
• Social Issues | Example: Early marriages. A story about 11 years old Sinyati who is still traumatized after being married off in her Maasai community.
• Personal Issues | Example: Drug addicts parents. A story about the plight of 10 year old Yahya, who has to work hard to take care of himself an his 3 year old sister due to the state of his parents who are both drugs addicts.
• Society | Example: Maasai Community Radio, an inspiring story about a radio station that is shaping and giving hope to the lives of many people in the rural Maasai region of Simanjiro.
• Trends & Innovation | Example: Tattoos become a new trend in Arusha. What is the buzz behind this vogue?

In addition to profile Tanzanian people, Tazama TZ! presents Job Swap; two people with completely different jobs swap their work for a day. Some of our most notable ones include:

• Snake Handler vs. Night Club DJ
• Daladala Consuctor vs. Bee keeper
• Pastor vs. Potter

Next to Job Swap, Tazama TZ! presents TAZAMA SHUJAA WA WIKI HII (Hero of the Week) – a  component that enlighten ordinary people who are making notable achievements in the society. For example:

• Boxing Girls: Emilio is introducing opportunities for young girls to participate in the sport Boxing, which has notable achievements among its male competitors.
• Signs Innovator: 55-year-old Kabatela uses a wheel chair and is on a mission to introduce road signs for people living with disabilities.

The first season Tazama Tz!was successfully aired in September 2010 on TBC1. As a result of this huge success, KFI produced the second season of Tazama Tz!, which will be airing from December 2011 on Saturdays at 8:30pm on TBC1.