Field Notes

Zikulu Online Learning Platform for African Friendship Society

Building the Spirit of the Village Online

Summary

Year

2024-Present 🌻

Offerings

Design – Platform structure and visual course templates rooted in ancestral values, custom video formats to support intergenerational learning

Strategy – Diaspora-focused online learning roadmap and tech translation, scalable systems to support growth, partnerships, and funding

Story – Voice-driven course content and copywriting grounded in the spirit of the village, narrative structure for video modules, blogs, and partner engagement

Stewardship – Equity-first community safety policies for online learning, Elder-led knowledge systems and youth pathways for meaningful participation

Industry

Arts & Culture, Nonprofit, Technology

Zikulu — meaning “school” in Swahili — is the digital learning platform of the African Friendship Society (AFS), an organisation rooted in bringing the Spirit of the Village to all its work. With a range of in-person programs for children, youth, and families, AFS needed support in translating its culturally rich, intergenerational healing-based programs into a scalable, safe, and soulful online environment.

The challenge wasn’t just technical. It was spiritual.

How do you digitise the feeling of being around a fire, dancing in circles, learning from griots, elders, and knowledge keepers — without losing the essence?

How do you build an educational platform that honours African wisdom traditions while safeguarding the emotional safety, cultural integrity, and joy of its participants?

Our Approach

Himmat Media was brought on as translator, tech guide, and community anchor — helping bridge the gap between vision and implementation. Led by a long-standing relationship with AFS’ Artistic Executive Director, Jacky Yenga, and mentored by industry-leading arts administrator Carla Chambers, our role was to co-build the Zikulu experience from the inside out.

This meant:

  • Designing an ecosystem of online learning rooted in village values

  • Creating content pipelines for children, youth, and families across different programs (Sankofa, Saubona, Viongozi, and more)

  • Turning real-world programming (drumming, dance, storytelling, spiritual well-being) into interactive video modules and courses

  • Setting up a digital framework that centres privacy, community care, and anti-colonial educational approaches

  • Working with elders, facilitators, and artists to ensure each piece of content felt alive with intention, history, and connection

Top Offerings

  • Cultural Curriculum Design

  • Community-Safe Digital Infrastructure

  • Educational Content Development, Planning + Strategy

  • Diaspora-Centred Platform Planning

  • Youth + Intergenerational Learning Pathways

  • Tech and Vision Alignment for Nonprofits

Results and impact

  • Built the first-ever digital platform rooted in AFS’s Spirit of the Village model

  • Translated in-person offerings into interactive, culturally safe online learning

  • Created multi-generational and multi-tiered course experiences and interactive educational content for kids, youth, and families

  • Set up the groundwork for community-moderated safety practices and clear digital engagement policies

  • Developed templates for continued growth, video pipelines, and partnerships across diaspora networks

  • Carried forward African knowledge systems into a tech-based future — without compromising tradition or experience

Zikulu is not just a learning platform. It’s a living village in the cloud — a place where healing, joy, and intergenerational transmission meet.

This is not edtech. This is ancestral futurism.
This is digital schooling as soul practice — with rhythm, remembrance, and responsibility.

As the platform continues to expand, Himmat Media remains a core steward in its unfolding — helping build not just content, but trust, structure, and strategy for a liberated, legacy-driven future.

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