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A shattered peace and second chances: the possibility for a better future forms the basis for brand-new TV series The Team, which tells the stories of seven young Kenyan footballers from different tribes who must overcome their mutual distrust so that their team, Imani F.C., has a shot at winning a world-wide tournament.
Early 2008, Kenya was devastated by post-election violence. In response, Media Focus on Africa and Search for Common Ground began collaboration on The Team, creating a drama show that aims to shift the way Kenyans think about their neighbours and themselves. In other words: using television to promote positive social change. The team dramatizes cooperative ways of handling ethnic and socioeconomic divisions, reflecting the desire of Kenyans to live together in harmony.
Right: One poster of a series of 6 developed for the
Premiere of THE TEAM on May 19th 2009.
The Imani, or “Faith”, F.C. players represent Kenya’s diverse population: rich and poor, male and female, urban and rural, and everything in between. Each player and the young coaches have a unique and troubled past, which sometimes makes it difficult to see a teammate’s point of view. But in their quest for the cup, the team realizes they must cooperate in order to score goals. Despite the difficulty that this presents, they manage to resolve the inevitable conflicts that arise and discover that the commonalities that link them are far deeper than the differences which threaten to tear them apart.
The 26-part series is co-produced by Media Focus on Africa and Search for Common Ground. It will premiereds across Kenya on Citizen-TV on May 21, 2009.
About The Team
 The Team was produced with funding from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). In addition to this series in Kenya, DFID is also supporting locally-produced versions of The Team in 10 other African and Asian countries, including Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nepal.
Left: The making of THE TEAM in Nariobi.
In addition to the national television broadcast, the US Agency for International Development is supporting the following activities:
- A radio adaptation, which will also be broadcast nationally
- DVD copies which will be distributed to community groups, schools, religious groups and universities throughout the country
- A viewer’s guide for use within discussion groups. The guide will be widely distributed with the DVD sets.
- Mobile cinema screenings in areas where television broadcasts are limited or unavailable and in regions where peace is still fragile. Each showing will be followed by a facilitated discussion.
- A music video, which will incorporate the theme music of the series and mirror its basic themes. Thus, each time the music is played on radio, TV and the internet, it will extend the impact and outreach of
the series.
- Interactive SMS and e-mail feedback. At the end of each episode, viewers will be given a mobile telephone number and an email address to which they can send their feedback. These will enable rapid viewer responses on the impact of the series, as well as valuable data that can be used in the evaluation process.
 About Search For Common Ground
Founded in 1982, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international conflict prevention NGO with offices in 18 countries. SFCG’s vision is a world in which individuals, communities, governments and societies respond to their differences in non-adversarial ways, and where those differences stimulate social progress, rather than precipitate violence. Common Ground Productions, SFCG’s media arm, has produced thousands of hours of TV and radio drama, news and features programmes, documentaries, reality shows, and call-in, round-table and magazine shows. More information on http://www.sfcg.org
Right: John Marks, President of Search for Common
Ground signs a football for the youngest cast member of THE TEAM; Dyna Bereket - Lulu in the series.
Quotes
I long for a Kenya in which we are all going to be proud of our ethnicity and, instead of using it negatively, use our diversity to realise more progress.
- Mburugu Gikunda, Executive Producer, The Team
Search for Common Ground uses popular culture including soap opera, music vide, and sport, to defuse violence and promote mutual understanding.”
- John Marks, President, Search for Common Ground
On the football pitch, as in everyday life, cooperation, respect and tolerance are values that will make all of us real winners. The TV drama series The Team has managed to capture this philosophy in an informative, entertaining and eye-opening way.
- Lord Triesman, Chairman, English Football Association (FA)
Anybody will tell you that it’s an artistic no-no to bludgeon your audience, week in week out with a didactic message. The great challenge in creating “‘The Team’” was to couch the message of reconciliation and tolerance within the soft underbelly of a good and entertaining story, well told. As a script consultant I shall retain fond memories of the heated but committed debate that ignited the writing process, drawing on Deborah Jones’’ production experience and George Kut’s knowledge of conflict resolution. For me the mantra was always “Keep it credible!”” It’s now over to the final decision makers – our audience – to rule on how right or wrong we got in the end. I think they’ll like it!”
- John Sibi-Okumu, TV presenter and THE TEAM script analyst
Soap opera for social change
"Can a soap opera bring about social change?" That is the question that NOW (on the PBS Network) explores in a half-hour program that was broadcast across the United States on January 1-4 2010 about Search for Common Ground's and Media Focus on Africa Foundation's dramatic TV radio series, The Team. The program also can be seen on the web at http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/601/index.html
Link to THE TEAM website:
http://www.theteamkenya.com
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