|
Using
Folksongs and Traditional Dance to Contain the AIDS Pandemic in Rural
Kenya
Felistus
Kinyanjui
Egerton
University
Njoro,
Kenya
Since
the first HIV/AIDS patient was diagnosed in Kenya in 1984, the disease had
reached pandemic proportions making it an urgent developmental issue in
the country. Stigma, discrimination and collective denial jointly played a
central role in fanning the pandemic in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Also, the government also sent mixed signals hence people did not know how
to respond to the deadly and dreaded disease. Fear and misinformation,
myths and misconceptions informed the public stance in regard to the
epidemic.
Perceptions
and interpersonal interactions were underlined by stigmatization of the
victims and their relations. Ordinarily stigma was associated with
labelling, stereotyping, status loss, prejudice, discounting, discrediting
and discrimination directed towards people perceived to have AIDS as well
as others who associated with the victims. For a long time these aspects
of power relations and separation militated against the containment of the
disease. But, not any longer.
This
paper seeks to put into perspective the various ways devised by rural
communities in Kenya to deal with the pandemic. It focuses on the use of
drama, folksongs, traditional dance, puppets, mashairi
(Kiswahili for poems) and participatory theatre, to couch HIV/AIDS
message. The field data revealed that rural communities have largely
benefited from the work of the local troupes which provide lifesaving
information and mock the scourge. The groups use vernacular, Kiswahili and
English to reach a diverse but receptive audience.
Through the use of metaphors the message on HIV/AIDS is driven home
in many public gatherings without causing undue embarrassment to the
audience, which comprises men and women as well as children and youths. At
issue in their troupe performances is the fight against stigma. It reveals
that the level on stigmatization is on a decline. Through culturally
re-conceptualizing AIDS and devising effective intervention measures the
communities are coping against all odds.
|
