We created this innovation because too many adolescents are expected to learn and thrive in education systems that do not fully respond to the realities shaping their lives. In Tanzania, 22% of girls aged 15–19 have ever been pregnant, and the transition rate from primary to secondary school was 73.3% in 2024, showing how many young people face barriers at a critical stage of their education. Many also lack access to engaging, age-appropriate, and context-relevant educational materials that support both academic learning and life skills.
Through our work in schools and communities, Tai saw that conventional teaching and awareness approaches were often not enough. Information alone did not always lead to understanding, participation, or action, especially when issues affecting adolescents were shaped by stigma, silence, unequal gender norms, and exclusion. We realised that storytelling could do what traditional instruction often could not: hold attention, reflect lived experience, and make difficult topics easier to discuss without judgment.
We therefore built an innovation around Heart, Mind, and Village. We co-create stories with young people and combine storytelling, digital learning, and supportive systems around them. Through animation, comics, audio stories, Tai Academy with curriculum-aligned and SBCC content, and a hybrid of traditional and digital dissemination channels, we help adolescents build knowledge, confidence, life skills, and agency.
In practice, our innovation combines co-created storytelling, digital learning, and community engagement to make education more inclusive, relevant, and engaging for young people. We work with adolescents and youth through an ongoing cycle of listening, co-creation, and feedback to identify the issues affecting their learning, wellbeing, and participation, then turn these into stories in formats they are naturally drawn to, including animation, comics, and audio stories. The content is developed in Swahili and, where relevant, English to make learning more accessible and contextually relevant.
We deliver the content through a hybrid of traditional and digital channels. In schools and communities, we use screenings, clubs, outreach sessions, facilitated discussions, and comic books placed in school libraries, supported by simple guidance for teachers, caregivers, and facilitators. Through broadcast, social media, and digital platforms, we extend access beyond face-to-face settings. Tai Academy complements this with curriculum-aligned academic content and SBCC content.
Inclusion is built into delivery. Audio stories support learners with visual impairments, and our co-creation process helps ensure the content reflects the experiences of those often left out. We also work with other education actors through the Tanzania Education Network to share implementation lessons and help inform wider education practice and system learning.
Our innovation has spread through a combination of direct implementation, partnerships, media distribution, and digital uptake. It first grew through school- and community-based delivery, where young people engaged with our stories through screenings, facilitated discussions, outreach sessions, and comic books placed in school libraries. To date, our outreach programmes have reached over 100 schools and 100,000 students, allowing us to test and refine the model in real learning environments, with feedback from adolescents, teachers, and communities.
It has since expanded through a hybrid of traditional and digital channels. Our animation, comics, and audio stories have reached over 17 million people through broadcast, social media, and digital platforms, while Tai Academy extends access to curriculum-aligned academic and SBCC content beyond face-to-face settings. At the same time, collaboration with other education actors through the Tanzania Education Network is helping us share implementation lessons and feed practical insights into wider education practice and national system learning.
As a result, the innovation is spreading not only in audience reach, but also in institutional relevance and its potential to influence how inclusive, engaging learning is delivered.
Over the past 13 years, our innovation has evolved in response to the realities, feedback, and aspirations of young people in Tanzania. In our first three years, Tai operated mainly as an awareness-focused NGO. But as we worked more closely with adolescents, schools, and communities, we realised that information alone was not enough. Young people needed learning experiences that were engaging, relatable, and grounded in how they actually learn. This led us to pivot from a conventional awareness model to one centred on storytelling and digital technology.
Since then, we have built a hybrid model that combines traditional and digital approaches, recognising that children learn differently and that inclusion requires multiple pathways. Through animations, comic books, audio stories, music, school outreach, and digital platforms, we create different entry points for learning.
We also expanded the scope of the innovation by integrating curriculum-aligned content with SBCC content on issues such as gender-based violence, child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and disability inclusion. At the same time, we learned that collaboration is essential. We now work more closely with government, UN agencies, and local and international NGOs, allowing the innovation to grow in reach, relevance, and connection to wider systems.
You can access our educational content through our digital learning portal and mobile App:
https://taiacademy.or.tz/
https://web.taiacademy.or.tz/
https://www.tai.or.tz/edutainment/explore-all
