Drama Shows with Dancing and Music

 

RAIN-UGANDA started the drama and dance group in 2011 to bring the message of HIV awareness and prevention to rural districts where most people are poor and illiterate. Without some kind of community outreach, they would have no way of knowing that HIV infection and AIDS can be prevented.

 

The RAIN-UGANDA Drama/dance troupe rehearses twice a month. Most of the members are youth in and out of school. Live shows are given in schools, trading centers, churches, mosques and in any public gathering in the Districts of Budaka and Namutumba .

 The RAIN-UGANDA drama director designs or collects plays, songs and dance which is then given to the drama group who rehearse it. When ready, the drama group invites RAIN-UGANDA staff to watch the rehearsals and make comments on the suitability of the play in terms of content and artistry. This is followed by further refinement of the presentation which is then taken into the local communities. At the community level, the local people are mobilized for the presentation by using the village health teams. Presentations include songs, poems, and skits, then there are self-introductions by the members of the cast, and a short talk on the work of RAIN-UGANDA. A question session follows, with quesions that are both about the work of RAIN-UGANDA and on HIV prevention and care.

 The central target for HIV/AIDS prevention is behaviour change. Involvement and participation are key words in influencing attitudes and bringing about this change. This performance-based approach targets local people to consider meaningful behaviour change. People need to grapple directly with the issues, be the thinkers and problem solvers and testers of new solutions and behaviours themselves. The learning needs to be an active process, which deepens people’s own awareness.