Hillside Digital

Empowering disadvantaged communities with a voice for positive social change.

Hillside Digital

The Hillside Digital Trust is a media and human rights not for profit public benefit organization (PBO). Empowering the disenfranchised and marginalized with how to tell their stories, how to take action and how to make their voices heard using a simple and most effective technology possible; video.

Hillside Digital provides trainees with journalistic, critical thinking and creative skills, teaching people to articulate and share their perspectives on the issues that matter to them – on a local and a global scale.

Our mission is to empower disadvantaged communities to have their own locally relevant and locally produced media that celebrates their culture, voices grassroots concerns, and stimulates dialog to find solutions to endemic problems.

The concept

Hillside Digital’s main program is setting up Community Video Units (CVUs). The purpose of a CVU is to empower communitiesto take action, to encourage local government to fulfill its responsibilities, to expand the scale and reach of NGOs andsocial programs, and to create grassroots leaders.

Siyakhona!

Creating change by giving a voice to disadvantaged communities

What does it mean?

Siyakhona means ‘we can do it’ in the common South African languages Zulu and Xhosa.

But whatever the language, the message is the same – through the power of citizen journalism we can bring a voice to the voiceless and empower people to create change.

We promote asset-basedcommunity development as part of the social legacy of the 2010 FIFA World CupTM.

Focusing on critical social issues.

As ‘citizen journalists’ the Siyakhona Alexandra Producers uncover the most urgent social issues affecting their community.

Using state-of-the-art equipment, they make short films about the problem – and what can be done about it.

Our trainees have already made short films about the rat crisis, rape, poverty, HIV/AIDS, and homophobia.

‘Township cinema’ – bringing media to the people.

Siyakhona Producers screen their films at free, public ‘township cinema’ events.

The segments include:

Community NewsOpinion PollsSuccess StoriesCase StudiesLegal TipsInfo on Government ProgramsLocal Culture and MusicExposés/video raidsLocal humor/jokes/skitsCall to Action

The producers conduct post-viewing discussions - inviting debate and encouraging people to find solutions from within the community.

Creating change - Siyakhona in action.

People in Alexandra were concerned by a plague of large rats in the township.

Our producers made a film about the cause of the problem – rubbish in the streets that was allowing the rats to breed and attitudes.

Siyakhona’s film led to the City of Johannesburg launching a major township clean-up campaign and adopting Siyakhona as a new service delivery partner. It also led to national media picking up the story.

Creating sustainable business.

The Siykahona producers create ‘hubs’ of sustainable business.

Using their training and equipment the producers can offer media production services within the community at affordable rates.

• Corporate PR films• PSAs or

promotional films for NGOs

• Video content for mobile phone (eg Mxit)

• ‘Township cinema’ screening events

Supernews

Siyakhona Alexandra and Supernews hosted volunteers of Ma Afrika Tikkun from Soweto, Orange Farm, Diepsloot and Alexandra Townships for a one day workshop on citizen journalism and how to share their stories with the world using social media.

First time Citizen Journalists, George Tokonje and Musa M report here about Hillside Digital's campaign to rebuild this historic center.

Recognition in the media.

Siyakhona films have featured in the international media such as CNN, Aljazeera English and Deutsche-Welle.

Siyakhona producers have made films for SABC’s ‘Special Assignment’.

Our first call to action film on rats was covered by ‘Cutting Edge’ ‘Walala Wasala’ (SABC 1) and 50/50 (SABC 2).

We promote partnerships with community media such as community radio station Alex FM

There is a need in all townships

In a South African context violent service delivery protests are rife in townships, "in a way that’s saying we’re not getting information here, we don’t have a platform, we don’t understand all this kind of high folutin’ stuff that’s going on in the mainstream media and so we’ll speak in a way we know people will listen, we’ll burn things. If we actually had more local media then people could actually use it and that media was also keeping track of local government and holding local government accountable, there would be no need for violent protests."- Professor Guy Burgess, head of journalism at Rhodes University.

Thank you.

Siyakhona was born as part of Sony’s collaboration with FIFA on corporate social responsibility.

It is delivered in partnership with Hillside Digital Trust, a South African not-for-profit public benefit media organisation.

Siyakhona is now a collaborative movement for positive social change.