GirlZ Off Mute celebrates one year of stories told by African girl reporters

Chelsea Boakye vividly recalls her first time working in front of the camera for GirlZ Off Mute.

“I still remember it like it was yesterday,” 16-year old Chelsea said. “The documentary was about a young female footballer whose family neglected her because she wanted to pursue football as a future career.”

Boakye was amazed by how determined the girl was even though she lacked her family’s support.

“It was then that I realized how fortunate I am to have my family support me in whatever dream that I have,” added Boakye, who lives in Ghana’s capital Accra.

Chelsea says that she might now become a journalist.

After all, she’s already gained considerable experience reporting for DW’s GirlZ Off Mute, a multimedia series giving African girls and young women a voice.

Self-esteem boost

Chelsea certainly exudes the confidence and composure of a seasoned news reporter.

“The opportunity given to me to be part of GirlZ Off Mute has made a great influence on my life,” she told DW.

When she started reporting for the series a year ago, she said, she was shy and had low self-esteem.

“But now I can gladly and boldly say that all these negative aspects have changed for the better,” she said.

The series give the reporters, who are scattered across Africa, a chance to learn valuable skills.

For GirlZ Off Mute English Africa coordinator, Jane Nyingi, that is part of the attraction of working on the series.

“I’m from Kenya and I know how difficult it is to find a job without any prior experience,” she said. “That’s why many young people are unemployed; no one wants to offer them the chance to gain the experience they seek.”

“That’s why when the GirlZ Off Mute project came to light, I was eager to work with these African teen girls and share the experience I’d gathered over the years working for both local Kenyan media stations and DW,” Nyingi added.

The project is funded by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office. For Claus Stäcker, who heads DW’s programs for Africa, the strength of the reporters came as a welcome surprise.

“Girls all over the world should have the same opportunities and be able to decide for themselves about their future.” he said. “I am touched and thrilled by how enthusiastic and courageous these young reporters are. When we conceived the project, it was not yet clear to us that we would find such strong young allies.”

Some already have.

After featuring on Girlz Off Mute as a teen reporter, Alertha Banda in Malawi has since featured in a movie and partnered with UNICEF while Lena Igweanyiba in the Gambia is training with a local TV station.

Reporting in a conflict zone

Another GirlZ Off Mute reporter, Lum Precious Gom, said the show had given her an opportunity to tell the world how Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis is affecting girls.

“They have been deprived of education, some have been killed and many displaced,” Precious Gom said.

She said she is inspired by how girls in the conflict-ridden region are coping with the twin difficulties of COVID-19 pandemic and Cameroon’s civil war.

“If I have the chance, I would like to tell the world stories [about] what it means to grow up in a typical Anglophone family with parental restrictions at every front,” Precious Gom said.

Different topics

GirlZ Off Mute has already tackled a range of topics, ranging from education, health and sanitation to dating and relationships and child marriage.

“Child marriages violate the children’s rights,” said Alertha Banda, DW’s GirlZ Off Mute reporter in Malawi.

The 16-year-old stressed that child marriage is a callous act because it takes away a girl’s childhood, leaving behind massive emotional scar.

“When I become self-reliant, I will look back at GirlZ Off Mute and remember how I used the power of media to empower young girls,” said 14-year-old Brandlyn Mubuuke.

The Ugandan teenage reporter said the project taught her just how important education is for girls like her.

“Girls who receive an education are less likely to marry young and more likely to lead healthy, productive lives,” Branlyn said.

Angel Onyi Unigwe, another GirlZ Off Mute teen reporter in Lagos, Nigeria, has seen her social media profile grow exponentially since she started telling stories about Nigerian girls.

“I have had the opportunity to interact with girls from all walks of life in my country,” Onyi Unigwe said. “They have taught me that you can be anything you want in life.”

#GirlzOffMute on social media

According to English Africa coordinator Nyingi, the video stories have amassed over 10 million views on social media. She credits the figures to the hard work of the teen reporters, correspondents, camera crew, editors, and producers.

Girlz Off Mute is currently produced in four languages: English, Kiswahili, Amharic, and French.

“Overall, we have about 750,000 views,” Anne Le Touze-Schmitz, the GirlZ Off Mute coordinator at DW’s French Africa Desk, said.

“The best video has over 200,000 views. It was about women doing ‘men’s jobs’ in Goma, eastern DR Congo. In the comments — many from women, which is rather rare for our target area — users wished “courage” and shared their pride in these women.”

Deutsche Welle’s programs reach 78 million users in sub-Saharan Africa every week, including 49 million via radio.

Edited by Kate Hairsine and Ineke Mules