BBC News - Thursday, 15 August, 2002

Made with the backing of 24 UN agencies, the weekly TV drama's dual purpose was to entertain and inform.

But critics have said that the programme struggled to portray real Kenyan culture.

"A lot of people were alienated because you look at it and you are not even sure that you are looking at an African programme," John Kariuke, a TV critic for Kenya's Nation newspaper, told the BBC.

"To get a real African trademark to it, the content and the cultural sensibilities have to be strictly followed."

Unrealistic

Soap, it was hoped, would slither into the parts that other projects have failed to reach.

The UN aimed for Heart and Soul to address "key development aspects", including HIV/Aids, poverty reduction, environmental protection, governance and human rights and gender.

But as John Kariuke told the BBC World Service's Artbeat programme, many thought that the programmes were unrealistic.

"There are serious omissions and violations from a cultural point of view which to a large extent, makes it irrelevant to an African audience," he explained.

Citing a key scene where the funeral of a wealthy landowner is taking place, Mr Kariuke observed, "In the African nation they don't bury somebody in the middle of a coffee plantation it is always within the homestead.

Also the grave has no flowers and the whole thing about Kenyan funerals is that there are lots and lots of flowers."

Success

The series initiators were determined that Heart and Soul should set new standards in quality across Africa and compete on the international stage.

Matthew Robinson of the BBC, a seasoned drama director once called "the pope of soap", was brought in to lead up the international consultant's team.

Having worked on the successful British soap, EastEnders, he told BBC News Online at the programme's inception that his intention was to "engage people".

"If the people's ideas are taken seriously then we will see a change that will be remarkable" - Mumbi Kaigwa

Now the success of the show, according to Mumbi Kaigwa, Heart and Soul's lead scriptwriter, depends on the "programme working with the population that the show is going out to."

"The programme should not be seen too much to emulate the standards of European television in content, but only in technique," she told Artbeat.

With adequate backing, the TV programme is aimed to be given free of charge to the 23 English-speaking countries in Africa, with a probable audience of around 50 million.

The intention is for it to reach a further 15 million people via a radio series as well.

With the project's original goals in mind, Kaigwa is certain that the programme can still succeed.

"If the people's ideas are taken seriously then we will begin to see a change that will be remarkable," she enthused.

"The answers are with the people and those answers will impact in the awareness raising and behaviour change that is important for Africa to survive."

Education

The Kenyan Government says 700 people die of Aids-related diseases every day.

Faced with alarming statistics, Tore Brevik, former head of communications at the UN Environment Programme (Unep), realised that agencies had to alter their approach to education.

Inspired by the South African soap, Soul City, he explained the initial impetus behind the Heart and Soul project as:

"We are famous for producing a lot of paper and a lot of jargon and acronyms, but we need people to listen."

Mumbi Kaigwa, lead scriptwriter speaks to Artbeat - "It is something that we are inventing as we go along"

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