The seven-member group was initiated by the Family Aids Support Trust (FAST) with support from UNICEF to raise awareness among youth about the risks of HIV and AIDS.
They have been moving around schools, clinics, hospitals and public places performing dramas about HIV and AIDS, transactional sex and other relevant social issues.
Powerful weapon
In an interview with The Zimbabwean, the Sunrise Theatre leader and coordinator Farai Mparutsa said: “The goal is for the group to be able to tackle complex and controversial topics in their communities in a way that can lead to behaviour change.”
He said they had decided to use theatre because it was a powerful weapon in HIV and AIDS prevention and awareness.
“When a play is performed through theatre in a local language, it has the ability to reach an audience with a particular message that can have a lasting impact,” said Mparutsa. “Theatre, therefore, serves as a mirror to reality, but is not actually reality. It therefore has the power to transport the audience to another world … and allows members to question why they like or dislike a character or story. It can also present alternative solutions to a problem,” he explained.
One unexpected outcome of the theatre project has been its overwhelming impact on the performers themselves. Most of them were unemployed and had faced the same kind of challenges they are being asked to dramatise.
I was hopeless
Faides Gurupira is one of the performers. She was raped when she was writing her final exams in 2009. She has not been able to finish her education since then because of financial troubles.
But the theatre group has changed her life for the better and has provided some relief. “I personally have been helped a lot by involving myself in theatre. Looking at the fact that I am a rape victim, and before this training I was angry – I was hopeless about my life because I felt like I was raped, what more could I say, how could I go out there and say anything to the world,” she said.
“But now I am relieved as I have been helped a lot by being a member of this theatre group. I am a different person and have been able to have a new life through my participation in this group,” she said. “Now I can take action and teach other youths that life doesn’t end where the problem is.”
Johannes Jerahuni, another member of the group, said many young adults like him struggled to find work because of limited opportunities, and a lack of experience and expertise.
Alcohol, drugs
“Normally when the situation turns like this many youths turn to alcohol, drugs and risky sexual behaviour, which can lead to HIV infection,” he said. “But, by coming here, it showed me that I am also a King because I can take action and be responsible for my life and at the same time encourage behaviour change to youths through my acting.”
Jerahuni has regained the ability to dream and to tell his message to other young people.
Recently, the group participated in a theatre training programme to help them address the challenges Zimbabwean youth face. According to Mparutsa the workshop has improved the skills and performances of the group.
Post published in: Health