March 08, 2017
Kiwa slam creates rheumatic rap
Kiwi Digital has allowed rangatahi to create an app to raise awareness among young people of rheumatic fever and strep throat.
Kiwa chief executive Steven Renata says working with Counties Manukau Health, the National Hauora Coalition and several south Auckland kura, 25 rangatahi aged from 9 to 13 from a mix of cultures were brought into a Kiwa slam workshop to create a bilingual storybook.
The groups of rangatahi turned their understanding of rheumatic fever into raps which they took into a sound studio for production.
"One of the beautiful things about being rangatahi-centric when you are doing this sort of work is allowing them to share whatever the content is in their world. Rangatahi often will bring humour to the content, to the message much quicker than adults and so there are some wonderful humourous elements which is think is great to capture people's attention," Mr Renata says.
Kiwa's Beat.fever app is available for free download from iTunes and Google play.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH STEVEN RENATA
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