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Memunatu Crowdsources to Reach Girls Across West Africa Through Multimedia Publication
Washington DC, December 4, 2014 —Memunatu Magazine is raising funds on Indiegogo through December 8 for their inaugural issue on Ebola, complete with student stories, advice from experts and tips on how to move forward from the crisis. Memunatu is a classroom magazine for teenage girls in West Africa that promotes literacy, leadership and empowerment.
This week, Memunatu Magazine begins communication with girls across West Africa through SMS. Teen girls in the region face lower literacy rates than their male counterparts, increased risk of sexual violence and other socio-cultural effects that limit their ability to advance. During the Ebola crisis, these issues intensify with schools out of session and media not reaching this crucial segment of the population. Through the magazine, along with text messaging, Memunatu is filling the void left behind.
Named after the founders’ mother, Memunatu aims to engage and inspire the 10 million girls across English-speaking West Africa. “Our parents are immigrants from Sierra Leone and we grew up being internationally minded. Throughout our childhoods, we saw the effects of civil war from afar,” said Mariama Kabia, president of Memunatu Magazine, Inc., and a recent graduate of Harvard Kennedy School. She cofounded Memunatu Magazine with her twin sister, Fatmata Kabia, a third-year student at Cornell Law School.
“When we got older, we learned about the issues that affected and continue to affect women and girls in the wake of the war. What we saw were different approaches to tackling some of those systemic problems,” Mariama Kabia said. “Fatmata and I knew that we could come up with a creative solution. The approach? Offer content that provides girls with educational and practical value in a form that is relatable.”
“The key to Memunatu is that girls can relate to its content” Fatmata Kabia said. “We want the girls who read the magazine to see themselves in each issue—from the cover girl, to relevant stories. We are working on the editorial, business plan and more to make sure Memunatu is a platform that girls across the region can use.”
Their Indiegogo Campaign is now live, and the Kabia sisters have until December 8 to raise funds to make Memunatu a reality. The money raised will be used to produce, promote, and distribute the publication. Donors can go to Memunatu’s Indiegogo page and donate at: http://igg.me/at/memunatumagazine
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ABOUT
Memunatu aims to promote literacy, leadership and empowerment for teenage girls (10 to17 years old) in West Africa through a classroom magazine. Their mission is to create a unique, community-driven publication that provides girls with a range of fun and educational content. Distributed through secondary schools with an accompanying teacher’s guide, Memunatu aims to engage and inspire girls across the region. Memunatu Magazine was recently a resident team at Harvard Innovation Lab and is currently a member at 1776, a startup incubator in Washington, D.C.
For more information on Memunatu, please visit: https://memunatumagazine.com
To contribute to the Indiegogo campaign, go to http://igg.me/at/memunatumagazine
Social Media Information:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MemunatuMagazine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MemunatuMag
Website: https://memunatumagazine.com
