Young people lacked a platform to voice their concerns. We provided it

Emmanuel Wabwire is one of the brains behind Faraja Digital Youth TV which was started by Faraja Foundation. It is accessible online through YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. In a brief interview, he told Youth Blitz why they came up with such a unique idea.

What inspired you to start a television station focusing on the youth issues?

We realized that many of the existing TVs did not have much content for the youths. We are talking about educative content not music so this inspired me and others to start this TV. It is a digital TV. It was launched in October last year. We want to give the youth voice a platform not only in Uganda but East Africa.

What are some of the areas your programming will focus on?

One of our major objectives is to promote youth entrepreneurship. We want to highlight success stories of the young people and promote a culture of entrepreneurship among the youth. Besides the youth, we hope that our TV can be watched by key policy makers who make decisions for young people.

Where are your offices or studios located?

We are located at Queen Chambers, Parliamentary Avenue, Kampala.

Do you do live shows like the conventional TVs or you upload recorded content that targets the youth?

We do both. We host live shows and also run programmes that are pre-recorded.

Being a digital TV means that one can only access it if they have data and the internet yet many youths are poor. Won’t this limit its accessibility

Yes, it will and we are mindful of the fact that many young people are poor and may not have money to buy data or smart phones but we are hopeful that with time the cost of the internet will go down and it will be accessible.

What other challenges have you faced so far?

It is expensive to run something that relies on the internet. Secondly sometimes internet connections are not reliable or speeds are slow and then our platform is inaccessible. This is a major challenge. Also producing quality content is expensive in terms of machines and human resource. Since we have limited resources, this becomes a challenge.

Any advice for young people who want to follow in your footsteps?

Young people need to be focused and determined to achieve their goals. I know that sometimes we encounter challenges in our pursuits but this should never demoralize us. Secondly, they should know that the world has increasingly become dynamic so they, too, need to be dynamic.