Notes from the Field -- by Jesse Hawkes
May 6, 2006
All over central Rwanda, it was raining. Low-lying, misty clouds covered the hills of Kigali and surrounds. Mud caked the roads, as well as all tires, shoes, and bare-feet that dared tread outside the home.
Generally speaking, rain is good news anytime in Rwanda, but it always comes with delays, and on that day in mid-March, the rain and the mud delayed the delivery of the lunch from the Strive Foundation of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to Alliance High School, which is situated half-way up a mountain.
For an hour and a half, the students, school officials, and the Executive Secretary of the sector awaited not only the food, but also the PLWHA, who would be sitting at the table as well, sharing in the special meal and participating in conversations related to HIV and AIDS in Rwanda. All this was scheduled to happen in advance of that afternoon’s theatre and peer education performance by Alliance’s anti-SIDA club, to be attended by all of the above as well.
Alliance would be the first school to compete in the second round of competition in RAPSIDA’s 2006 Secondary School HIV-Prevention and Destigmatization League. The first round had taken place in February at the schools themselves, in front of students mainly, but now the clubs would be bringing their plays and peer education exercises into their communities.
Alliance planned to perform down the hill from the school at Nyacyonga, a small yet bustling trading center near the Kabuye sugar factory which lies along the main route between Kigali and the principle Ugandan/Rwandan border crossing, Gatuna. A small haven for truckers and the migrant workers of the sugar factory, Nyacyonga was a perfect place to spread a message about HIV Prevention.
With the rain continuing, however, the audience members would be few, so the performance was delayed indefinitely and the meal, despite arriving late in a mud splattered minibus, received adequate time for good eating and conversations.
The topic of conversation at the meal: What are the teachers doing for HIV Prevention at the school? The conclusion, given by both the students and the teachers/administrators: the teachers are doing little. The schools are officially required by the Ministry of Education to integrate HIV Education into their teaching, but an excess of other pressures on the teachers and a lack of motivation and accountability means that the school relies almost 100% on the student clubs, and outside groups such as RAPSIDA, to sensitize their students.
Luckily, Alliance’s club, like all of the 6 school clubs in RAPSIDA’s League, had been doing a great job thus far. Alliance had taken second prize in the theatre category in the first competition, and the word on the washed-out street was that Alliance would undoubtedly take first prize in theatre this time, and also grab at least third prize in peer education.
Following the meal, the students went down the mountain to set-up their performance at a local community market perched on the hillside just above Nyacyonga.
The open air market seemed a perfect place for the play, as there were no stalls set up and there was a small open courtyard visible from multiple levels, both below and above. Clay-tiled roofs with no walls would provide protection from the rain for the audience, if not for the actors in the courtyard, but this was assuming that they could get an audience. If only the rain would stop for a moment to allow them to tell the community that a play was happening there.
Luckily, as the youth congregated in the market courtyard, the rain turned to a drizzle and then stopped. Even the clouds began to part.
But it was 4 o’clock. They had exactly 2 hours until sunset, and at least two hours of material to present. So they had to start immediately.
The initial audience consisted of about 50 people, both students who had followed the youth down the hill, as well as community members, including the Strive Foundation members and the Executive Secretary. To start, the Ex. Sec. took the honors and opened the presentation by picking the name of the next Ikimenyetso Kibyiringiro (Badge of Hope) wearer.
The badge of hope committee then explained to the audience what their program was all about at the school, and said that maybe sometime in the future it will be possible to do the program in the community at some level. The audience members liked the idea.
Following the Ikimenyetso committee’s presentation, the play began with gusto. The talented actors and actresses, singers and dancers of the anti-SIDA club entered and told their story of a young woman and a young man who are attracted to each other and who are curious about sex. But their friend, Umwari, advises them to try to find some other outlet for their desire to have all-out sex. Umwari even shows them that she has a boyfriend, and that Umwari and her boyfriend abstain from sex. Umwari’s boyfriend even sings her a song to tell her how much he loves her, even though she doesn’t want sex. Still, the two principal characters refuse Umwari’s advice, and it is up to the Master of Ceremonies, Anita, to convince the audience to try to persuade the couple to either abstain or use a condom.
During the first half of the play, audience members had started to stream-in from all corners of the community. They were now about 300 strong, surrounding the actors on all sides of the courtyard. Dramatically, MC Anita posed questions of audience members both in front of her, to her side sloping down a staircase, and up above on a ten foot cliff, where 30 people were lined up, peering down at the play.
Still, despite Anita’s initial urging, the audience members were reluctant to physically come on stage to try to give good advice. For a moment, it seemed that Anita might give up.
But she didn’t. Anita’s will was unstoppable. She turned on her charm and locked eyes with a thirty-something woman on the back side of the stage—just beside the pretend doctor’s office—and she didn’t give up until the woman had consented, with a smile, to come on stage in front of the large crowd.
As the woman took the stage and approached the principle actors, Anita started clapping for her, and surprisingly the audience too roared with clapping and cheers. Expressions of extreme passion and joy are rare among Rwandan audiences, except at football matches and in church. Perhaps this is why the audience members themselves seemed surprised with their moment of exuberance—and then screamed even louder.
When the forum theatre moment began momentarily, however, the audience immediately hushed in order to hear the good advice that the woman gave to the couple. The woman told them that there were other ways to express love, and that they should only have sex if they are committed to using a condom.
The couple considered her remarks, but then ultimately refused.
Nevertheless, Anita congratulated the woman and told her not to lose faith, saying that her words would still reach other people in the community no doubt. Anita pointed out to her that the audience was with her, even if the actors were not.
After a round of applause, Anita then invited another audience member to try. This time, there was no shortage of hands from community members. Like the first, however, each new community member lost the battle with the adamant lovers, and Anita gave each the same encouragement despite the loss.
In addition, for their good efforts, Anita and RAP trainer Rose Tuyishime rewarded the three participants with small HIV/AIDS solidarity badges and bags of home-made soaps—which had been produced by local associations of PLWHA, including the Strive Foundation, whose members were still present.
Following this gift giving, Anita asked the audience if they wanted to see what would eventually happen to the couple in the play. The audience roared “Yego!” (yes) and the play continued.
During the second half, the audiences’ eyes remained glued to the stage as the young couple got tested for HIV, found out that they were HIV positive, and lamented their actions. Even though their friends tried to console them, telling them that there are medications available for people with HIV, the couple said that they know life will be difficult for them now and they encouraged others to try to avoid making similar mistakes. Above all, the couple asked the audience to listen to the good advice of their peers, some of whom had shown their ability to advise others during the play.
The story included much humor and even terrific insights and metaphors. According to Umwari, life was like an egg, which, when dropped, can be very difficult to salvage. This metaphor was accompanied by an actual egg, which Umwari dropped on the red-brick ground to illustrate the point.
Overall, the play’s message was delivered with great creativity, clarity, and sensitivity, including a passionate poem about protecting oneself. The RAP judges smiled and nodded their heads approvingly, knowingly. Even though Alliance was the first school to compete in the second round of competitions, it would be hard to beat.
However, the play had run a little bit long at the end, and the sun began to fall behind the hill. There would be less time now for peer education, and as Alliance was chasing that prize as well, they shortened the discussion about the play and the Peer education committee entered to perform one game about abstaining and condom usage, a condom demo, and one game about high, low, and no-risk behaviors.
The fact that these exercises were rushed slightly did not decrease their overall effect. After all, the audience stayed until it was nearly too dark to see, perhaps spurred on by the possibility of winning some nice soap, but nevertheless engaged by the games all the while. Alliance had done a respectable job on peer education, in addition to their superb theatrical presentation.
Three weeks later, however, after the results were in, Alliance would lament the timing of their play, since they actually placed last in Peer Education, receiving no prize in that category.
We at RAPSIDA hoped that Alliance would see beyond their longing for fame, and view their placement as a testament to the high quality of all of the groups, and that they would be happy knowing that all of their peers had improved since the first round. Everyone was working at near-professional standards, and they all should be proud that they were making a difference at their schools and in their communities.
We knew, however, that taking last place in Peer Education would be difficult for Alliance, regardless of all the positive signs.
We also knew that the disappointment related to taking last place in Peer Education would be nothing compared to the pain of taking second place in theatre, yet again.
Even with such a stellar play, Alliance scored 3 points behind ASPESKA Karenge, whose dramatic presentation one week later in a football field near the Karenge community market, under scorching sun, crowned them the champs of both Peer Ed and Theatre.
It would perhaps take all of Alliance’s might to hold back the groans and moans acquainted with taking second prize to Karenge yet again, and trainer Rose feared mounting the hill to give them the results.
Nevertheless, Rose would bring them sodas and treats, and on that fateful day she hoped that the gifts would ease their competitive hearts and that serviettes/napkins would dry their eyes, allowing them to see their own greatness, and that of their peers.
Rose would tell them that they should thank their lucky stars for their good fortune! They had just barely beaten the other four schools, Kabuga H.S., APEBU Nyamata, APAGIE Musha, and Nyamata H.S., whose theatre scores clipped the heels of both Alliance and ASPESKA, illustrating the greatness of all six clubs.
In the end, however, the thing that ultimately persuaded the disappointed Alliance students to strengthen their hearts and re-focus their energies was the presence of the openly HIV+ Strive Foundation members at the follow-up meeting. Rose had invited them to the meeting so that they could immediately discuss the next round of competition, during which the students were to write a play about stigma and how people live with HIV, based not on assumptions, but on interviews with real people, conducted during home visits, in their communities. Rose had invited the Strive members to help schedule the visits and also to start the conversation.
Hence, after discussing the results of Round 2 and then trying, unsuccessfully, to motivate smiles on the students’ long faces, Rose turned the attention to Round 3 and began a conversation between the students and the Strive Foundation members about stigma, discrimination, and how people live with HIV/AIDS.
The Strive Foundation members took charge of the conversation, and the students forgot about their quest for glory. They were now otherwise engaged—learning and dialoguing about the lives of their openly HIV+ visitors. The students nodded their heads with contentment when they learned how the Strive Foundation members receive their ARV medications. They shook their heads back-and-forth, or bowed them briefly, when they learned how, sometimes, the Strive Foundation children are stigmatized by their peers at school, and their parents feel helpless when they come home and complain.
Round 3 of competition had begun, and unconsciously the students were already succeeding. The more sincerely connected the students became to the association of people who live with HIV, the better their play would ultimately be. Together with the association, they would rise even higher.
RAPSIDA’s 2006 Schools Program is financially supported by the German health organization ActionMedeor (www.medeor.org), Gallery 138 (www.gallery138.com), and the Ward Brook Center (www.wardbrook.org). For more information about RAPSIDA, please contact RAPSIDA Program Director, Jesse Hawkes at hawkes@post.harvard.edu
May 6, 2006
All over central Rwanda, it was raining. Low-lying, misty clouds covered the hills of Kigali and surrounds. Mud caked the roads, as well as all tires, shoes, and bare-feet that dared tread outside the home.
Generally speaking, rain is good news anytime in Rwanda, but it always comes with delays, and on that day in mid-March, the rain and the mud delayed the delivery of the lunch from the Strive Foundation of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to Alliance High School, which is situated half-way up a mountain.
For an hour and a half, the students, school officials, and the Executive Secretary of the sector awaited not only the food, but also the PLWHA, who would be sitting at the table as well, sharing in the special meal and participating in conversations related to HIV and AIDS in Rwanda. All this was scheduled to happen in advance of that afternoon’s theatre and peer education performance by Alliance’s anti-SIDA club, to be attended by all of the above as well.
Alliance would be the first school to compete in the second round of competition in RAPSIDA’s 2006 Secondary School HIV-Prevention and Destigmatization League. The first round had taken place in February at the schools themselves, in front of students mainly, but now the clubs would be bringing their plays and peer education exercises into their communities.
Alliance planned to perform down the hill from the school at Nyacyonga, a small yet bustling trading center near the Kabuye sugar factory which lies along the main route between Kigali and the principle Ugandan/Rwandan border crossing, Gatuna. A small haven for truckers and the migrant workers of the sugar factory, Nyacyonga was a perfect place to spread a message about HIV Prevention.
With the rain continuing, however, the audience members would be few, so the performance was delayed indefinitely and the meal, despite arriving late in a mud splattered minibus, received adequate time for good eating and conversations.
The topic of conversation at the meal: What are the teachers doing for HIV Prevention at the school? The conclusion, given by both the students and the teachers/administrators: the teachers are doing little. The schools are officially required by the Ministry of Education to integrate HIV Education into their teaching, but an excess of other pressures on the teachers and a lack of motivation and accountability means that the school relies almost 100% on the student clubs, and outside groups such as RAPSIDA, to sensitize their students.
Luckily, Alliance’s club, like all of the 6 school clubs in RAPSIDA’s League, had been doing a great job thus far. Alliance had taken second prize in the theatre category in the first competition, and the word on the washed-out street was that Alliance would undoubtedly take first prize in theatre this time, and also grab at least third prize in peer education.
Following the meal, the students went down the mountain to set-up their performance at a local community market perched on the hillside just above Nyacyonga.
The open air market seemed a perfect place for the play, as there were no stalls set up and there was a small open courtyard visible from multiple levels, both below and above. Clay-tiled roofs with no walls would provide protection from the rain for the audience, if not for the actors in the courtyard, but this was assuming that they could get an audience. If only the rain would stop for a moment to allow them to tell the community that a play was happening there.
Luckily, as the youth congregated in the market courtyard, the rain turned to a drizzle and then stopped. Even the clouds began to part.
But it was 4 o’clock. They had exactly 2 hours until sunset, and at least two hours of material to present. So they had to start immediately.
The initial audience consisted of about 50 people, both students who had followed the youth down the hill, as well as community members, including the Strive Foundation members and the Executive Secretary. To start, the Ex. Sec. took the honors and opened the presentation by picking the name of the next Ikimenyetso Kibyiringiro (Badge of Hope) wearer.
The badge of hope committee then explained to the audience what their program was all about at the school, and said that maybe sometime in the future it will be possible to do the program in the community at some level. The audience members liked the idea.
Following the Ikimenyetso committee’s presentation, the play began with gusto. The talented actors and actresses, singers and dancers of the anti-SIDA club entered and told their story of a young woman and a young man who are attracted to each other and who are curious about sex. But their friend, Umwari, advises them to try to find some other outlet for their desire to have all-out sex. Umwari even shows them that she has a boyfriend, and that Umwari and her boyfriend abstain from sex. Umwari’s boyfriend even sings her a song to tell her how much he loves her, even though she doesn’t want sex. Still, the two principal characters refuse Umwari’s advice, and it is up to the Master of Ceremonies, Anita, to convince the audience to try to persuade the couple to either abstain or use a condom.
During the first half of the play, audience members had started to stream-in from all corners of the community. They were now about 300 strong, surrounding the actors on all sides of the courtyard. Dramatically, MC Anita posed questions of audience members both in front of her, to her side sloping down a staircase, and up above on a ten foot cliff, where 30 people were lined up, peering down at the play.
Still, despite Anita’s initial urging, the audience members were reluctant to physically come on stage to try to give good advice. For a moment, it seemed that Anita might give up.
But she didn’t. Anita’s will was unstoppable. She turned on her charm and locked eyes with a thirty-something woman on the back side of the stage—just beside the pretend doctor’s office—and she didn’t give up until the woman had consented, with a smile, to come on stage in front of the large crowd.
As the woman took the stage and approached the principle actors, Anita started clapping for her, and surprisingly the audience too roared with clapping and cheers. Expressions of extreme passion and joy are rare among Rwandan audiences, except at football matches and in church. Perhaps this is why the audience members themselves seemed surprised with their moment of exuberance—and then screamed even louder.
When the forum theatre moment began momentarily, however, the audience immediately hushed in order to hear the good advice that the woman gave to the couple. The woman told them that there were other ways to express love, and that they should only have sex if they are committed to using a condom.
The couple considered her remarks, but then ultimately refused.
Nevertheless, Anita congratulated the woman and told her not to lose faith, saying that her words would still reach other people in the community no doubt. Anita pointed out to her that the audience was with her, even if the actors were not.
After a round of applause, Anita then invited another audience member to try. This time, there was no shortage of hands from community members. Like the first, however, each new community member lost the battle with the adamant lovers, and Anita gave each the same encouragement despite the loss.
In addition, for their good efforts, Anita and RAP trainer Rose Tuyishime rewarded the three participants with small HIV/AIDS solidarity badges and bags of home-made soaps—which had been produced by local associations of PLWHA, including the Strive Foundation, whose members were still present.
Following this gift giving, Anita asked the audience if they wanted to see what would eventually happen to the couple in the play. The audience roared “Yego!” (yes) and the play continued.
During the second half, the audiences’ eyes remained glued to the stage as the young couple got tested for HIV, found out that they were HIV positive, and lamented their actions. Even though their friends tried to console them, telling them that there are medications available for people with HIV, the couple said that they know life will be difficult for them now and they encouraged others to try to avoid making similar mistakes. Above all, the couple asked the audience to listen to the good advice of their peers, some of whom had shown their ability to advise others during the play.
The story included much humor and even terrific insights and metaphors. According to Umwari, life was like an egg, which, when dropped, can be very difficult to salvage. This metaphor was accompanied by an actual egg, which Umwari dropped on the red-brick ground to illustrate the point.
Overall, the play’s message was delivered with great creativity, clarity, and sensitivity, including a passionate poem about protecting oneself. The RAP judges smiled and nodded their heads approvingly, knowingly. Even though Alliance was the first school to compete in the second round of competitions, it would be hard to beat.
However, the play had run a little bit long at the end, and the sun began to fall behind the hill. There would be less time now for peer education, and as Alliance was chasing that prize as well, they shortened the discussion about the play and the Peer education committee entered to perform one game about abstaining and condom usage, a condom demo, and one game about high, low, and no-risk behaviors.
The fact that these exercises were rushed slightly did not decrease their overall effect. After all, the audience stayed until it was nearly too dark to see, perhaps spurred on by the possibility of winning some nice soap, but nevertheless engaged by the games all the while. Alliance had done a respectable job on peer education, in addition to their superb theatrical presentation.
Three weeks later, however, after the results were in, Alliance would lament the timing of their play, since they actually placed last in Peer Education, receiving no prize in that category.
We at RAPSIDA hoped that Alliance would see beyond their longing for fame, and view their placement as a testament to the high quality of all of the groups, and that they would be happy knowing that all of their peers had improved since the first round. Everyone was working at near-professional standards, and they all should be proud that they were making a difference at their schools and in their communities.
We knew, however, that taking last place in Peer Education would be difficult for Alliance, regardless of all the positive signs.
We also knew that the disappointment related to taking last place in Peer Education would be nothing compared to the pain of taking second place in theatre, yet again.
Even with such a stellar play, Alliance scored 3 points behind ASPESKA Karenge, whose dramatic presentation one week later in a football field near the Karenge community market, under scorching sun, crowned them the champs of both Peer Ed and Theatre.
It would perhaps take all of Alliance’s might to hold back the groans and moans acquainted with taking second prize to Karenge yet again, and trainer Rose feared mounting the hill to give them the results.
Nevertheless, Rose would bring them sodas and treats, and on that fateful day she hoped that the gifts would ease their competitive hearts and that serviettes/napkins would dry their eyes, allowing them to see their own greatness, and that of their peers.
Rose would tell them that they should thank their lucky stars for their good fortune! They had just barely beaten the other four schools, Kabuga H.S., APEBU Nyamata, APAGIE Musha, and Nyamata H.S., whose theatre scores clipped the heels of both Alliance and ASPESKA, illustrating the greatness of all six clubs.
In the end, however, the thing that ultimately persuaded the disappointed Alliance students to strengthen their hearts and re-focus their energies was the presence of the openly HIV+ Strive Foundation members at the follow-up meeting. Rose had invited them to the meeting so that they could immediately discuss the next round of competition, during which the students were to write a play about stigma and how people live with HIV, based not on assumptions, but on interviews with real people, conducted during home visits, in their communities. Rose had invited the Strive members to help schedule the visits and also to start the conversation.
Hence, after discussing the results of Round 2 and then trying, unsuccessfully, to motivate smiles on the students’ long faces, Rose turned the attention to Round 3 and began a conversation between the students and the Strive Foundation members about stigma, discrimination, and how people live with HIV/AIDS.
The Strive Foundation members took charge of the conversation, and the students forgot about their quest for glory. They were now otherwise engaged—learning and dialoguing about the lives of their openly HIV+ visitors. The students nodded their heads with contentment when they learned how the Strive Foundation members receive their ARV medications. They shook their heads back-and-forth, or bowed them briefly, when they learned how, sometimes, the Strive Foundation children are stigmatized by their peers at school, and their parents feel helpless when they come home and complain.
Round 3 of competition had begun, and unconsciously the students were already succeeding. The more sincerely connected the students became to the association of people who live with HIV, the better their play would ultimately be. Together with the association, they would rise even higher.
RAPSIDA’s 2006 Schools Program is financially supported by the German health organization ActionMedeor (www.medeor.org), Gallery 138 (www.gallery138.com), and the Ward Brook Center (www.wardbrook.org). For more information about RAPSIDA, please contact RAPSIDA Program Director, Jesse Hawkes at hawkes@post.harvard.edu
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