Lenga Ugaidi na Talanta is a short film, music and poetry competition that was started in 2017 and targeted at Kenyan youth. The mission of the competition is to provide a channel and voice for youth to fight against radicalization, violent extremism and terrorism in our country. Radicalization and violent extremism are silent epidemics that have through terrorist acts deeply, painfully and permanently altered Kenyans’ lives and continue to do so albeit insidiously in the shadows. The organizers understand that the fight against radicalization is a fight about narrative and the competition hopes to channel youth creativity towards developing and sharing compelling counter-narratives.
It’s an initiative by various organizations that have come together to strengthen the fight against radicalization and violent extremism especially among the youth who are the primary targets of terrorist groups. The organizations involved are The HORN Institute, Building Resilience Against Violent Extremism (BRAVE), Center for Sustainable Conflict Resolution (CSCR), Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) in collaboration with Nuvision and Epuka Ugaidi. The first edition of the Lenga Ugaidi na Talanta competition was a success, attracting more than 500 submissions. On 1st October 2018, the competition’s second year was officially launched, marking the opening of this year’s competition.
The 2018 Lenga Ugaidi na Talanta theme is Fighting Terrorism Through Art. It’s open to Kenyan youth aged 15 to 35 years. The types of creative pieces that can be submitted are short films, songs, and poems, all of which should be a video, five minutes or less in length. Anything over five minutes long is immediately disqualified. Participants can only submit a creative piece in a single category. So if you decide you’re submitting a poem, you can only submit one video performance of a short poem and nothing more, you can’t then submit a second poem or a short film or a song. You choose your creative piece and you have one shot. Make it count. When submitting your piece, you’ll be required to provide details including your full name, phone number, email address and a copy of your ID. Participants under 18 are to submit the ID of a parent or official guardian.
The key categories by which the submissions will be judged are:
- Peer responsibility whose focus is identifying early warning signs of radicalization among peers. The task at hand is to illustrate the early warning signs of radicalization among youth.
- How to effectively and responsibly respond to terror attacks. The task here is to show how to effectively and responsibly respond in the unfortunate event of a terror attack.
- The role of social media in radicalization and terrorism. The main task will be to illustrate how violent extremists use social media to recruit and radicalize the youth. As well as how the youth can use online platforms to counter violent extremists’ narratives.
- The role of women and children in radicalization and terrorism. The main task will be to explore the new phenomenon of female terrorists and how women can spearhead the fight against recruitment, radicalization, and terrorism.
- The true meaning of Jihad. Jihad is arguably the most misused term in Islam and the task here is to exemplify the ‘Best Jihad’ and it’s pre-requisites, different forms of Jihad and the challenge the extremists’ Jihad narratives juxtaposition with Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad.
Prizes
What do you get for all your hard work, sweat and tears should you choose to participate? The winner bags a cool KSH 500,000. The runner’s up gets the judges’ award which is a laptop and the third award which goes to the youngest entrant and will be a smartphone. Here’s hoping that’s enough incentive for the creative among us to dazzle us with art that has a message, art that is designed to counter what is proving to be a devastating narrative from terrorist groups.
Key Dates/Facts
Theme: Fighting Terrorism Through Art
Competition opens: 1st October 2018
Competition closes: 16th November 2018
Public Announcement of Winner: 5th December 2018
Official winner contacted through the number 0770-886 246
Submission of entries:
WhatsApp/Telegram – 0770886246 OR
Google Drive: lengaugaidi@gmail.com
Submission types: Short film, song or poem. (Video clip 5 minutes or less)
For more information visit: www.lengaugaidi.co.ke
Will you participate in 2018’s Lenga Ugaidi na Talanta competition?
