Meet The Super Energetic Masaka Kids Africana Who Have 3 Million YouTube Subscribers

In recent years, the dancing crew of Masaka Kids Africana from Uganda has won over millions of fans across social media platforms. The kids’ upbeat and fluid movements, paired with bright smiles betray the difficult circumstances in which they grew up. The Masaka Kids Africana is a Ugandan non profit. It caters to over 25 kids from over 10 tribes who have experienced war, famine, and epidemics. Masaka Kids Africana was formed in 2013. It is named after Masaka, a town in Uganda’s central region where the non-profit’s founder Suuna Hassan grew up.

In the past decade Suuna Hassan and choreographer Kityamuwesi John or ‘Johnny’ have served many underprivileged kids by making dance videos with them. As per the non-profit’s website, the organisation aims to “give children safe shelter, food, clothing, education and medical care.”

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In a conversation with Gulf News in 2022, Kityamuwesi John, choreographer at Masaka Kids Africana spoke about how making and posting the dance videos on their socials is a community effort and said, “All the community members work together along with me to help come up with these steps. We upload the children’s performances on social media to spread the message that Ugandan children or any child for that matter, who has lost a lot, still has so much potential for a bright future when they get the care they deserve.”

Masaka Kids Africana has 3.7 million subscribers on YouTube, more than 9.4 million Instagram followers, and 5.2 million followers on Facebook.

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Suuna Hassan told Gulf News that even though the non-profit organisation is known for its dance videos, it organises other cultural events that help in a variety of skill development. He mentioned that kids only practice dance during their school holidays and weekends. He explained, “When people see us on social media they think we only dance and sing. We also do other cultural activities. All children don’t have the same potential for dance and music. Even grown-ups don’t have the same intelligence. It’s whatever we know best, right? So back home, there are those who are good at football. There are those good at tailoring. Some are good at carpentry. Others are good at poultry and farming. So our core cultural activities include these things too.”