Soul Buddyz

The Soul Buddyz vehicle consists of 5 main parts:

1. Television
2. Radio
3. Lifeskills Booklet for Grade 7
4. Parenting Booklet
5. Soul Buddyz Clubs

Soul Buddyz media deals with issues such as children's rights, AIDS, youth sexuality, accidents, disability, road safety, gender equality, and bullying.

The television initiative is a 26-part drama series and each episode is approximately 26 minutes long. The drama centres around a group of children who meet after school in a park. They represent children from all walks of life and they form a firm bond. This group - the Soul Buddyz - have to deal with issues that children are facing every day of their lives. They help each other and work for their community, while having lots of fun.

At the end of each episode of Soul Buddyz there is a two-minute sequence of real children's comments about the issues that Soul Buddyz raises - this is called the "Buddyz Buzz" and helps give some African children a voice to express their opinion on important issues affecting them.

The format of the radio initiative is 26 30-minute programmes consisting of a 10-minute drama with child protagonists, 5 minutes of documentary information inserts for both adults and children, and 15 minutes of interactive talk (a phone-in show hosted by a young person).

The Lifeskills booklet is designed to be a user-friendly information and activity resource for Grade 7 learners. Written in module form and illustrated with the popular characters from the television series, each module has a photo comic story relating to the television story. This is followed by number of activities and information about the key topics. The booklets are distributed to all Grade 7 children in South Africa.

The Parenting Book accompanies the Soul Buddyz series. Over half a million booklets are distributed through the Sunday Times newspaper (a national weekly newspaper in South Africa) and through non-governmental organisations.

After the success of the first series of Soul Buddyz, children across the country wanted to form their own real life clubs. Soul Buddyz Clubs are fun and safe places where young people can get together to learn, enjoy and contribute to their communities. Based in schools and libraries across South Africa, they aim to be a platform where all South African children can acquire additional knowledge and skills related to health issues, and be empowered to realise and voice their rights, needs and interests and interact with peers on an educational and recreational level.

Children, Health, Nutrition, HIV/AIDS, Rights, Conflict, Sexuality.

Media and materials have been or will be piloted for feedback. All the issues dealt with are clearly framed within the South African Constitution and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Prior to the Soul Buddyz projects, Soul City had worked with people 12 years and older.

The Soul Buddyz project was launched in 1999, building on the successful multimedia strategy of the Soul City series. While the Soul City series is popular with all ages, its messages were not designed specifically for a very young audience, particularly 8 to 12 -year-olds. Soul Buddyz has been developed specifically with this age group in mind because attitudes are often formed during this critical time and yet, in the context of a rapidly transforming society with technological changes as well as social changes, the needs and aspirations of children between the ages of 8-12 years old are often neglected. Emotional and health problems often originate or become embedded in this age group, with social problems such as physical and sexual abuse severely retarding the potential of many children.

Soul Buddyz has won a number of awards. In 2004, one episode in the weekly drama series won the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA) prize for Outstanding Local Children's Programme. This award was sponsored by UNICEF. In 2003, the programme was awarded 'Best Children's Drama in Africa' and 'Best Edutainment in Africa' at the Children's Broadcasting Foundation for Africa (CBFA) - Sithengi 2003 Children's Festival.