8. How to Tell Narratives that Empower — Grace Kabuye

Show Notes In this episode Wesley sits down in Nairobi, Kenya for a conversation with Grace Kabuye about how Westerners can do a a better job of telling stories that empower people. We talk about whether Westerners should be telling stories where they are the heroes in the narrative or should they be telling stories of local heroes? Her big takeaway is that there needs to be more balance, and we need to be telling more stories about local heroes. But she also puts some of the responsibility back on those living in Africa to tell empowering stories of Africans. During our conversation I realize that Africa is prime for the next great wave of podcasting for a variety of reasons. In this episode I do also a mini vignette about local security and how I used a local youth leader vs an armed security guard while traveling around Kibera, Nairobi, one of the largest slums in Africa. Local security is really the better way to go. The lastly if you do any kind of development work, we talk about the importance of walking alongside the people you are working with, and involving in the narrative of being part of the story and not just a passive recipient who plays a secondary role in the story.