Soul Beat Africa
African development action with informed and engaged societies
Soul Beat Africa
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Theatre for Life

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A UNICEF-Sudan supported child-rights development project is working with community activists to establish a nationwide network of grassroots children’s theatre groups. The activists are first trained in participatory theatre as a means of researching and exploring child-protection and other issues, and of devising and performing problem-posing plays about them. The plays are then performed with the aim of engaging communities in dialogue and of mobilising them towards finding solutions. Once trained, the activists return home and set up child-centred theatre groups in their community. It is hoped that eventually 450 such groups will be using the methodology to tackle child protection issues and advocate for child-rights. Ultimately, children will be both authors and beneficiaries of the project.
Communication Strategies
A primary objective of this project is to move beyond simplistic teaching plays with their reflected dynamic of top-down communication between non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and supposed beneficiaries. Such didactic theatre remains popular with NGOs in Africa, particularly in the context of health promotion. Whilst this form often involves child actors it is seldom child-centred and is frequently closer to manipulation than participation. Typically a written script is prepared by adults who then select a handful of child actors, who they perceive as talented, excluding the majority of children from the process.

Theatre for Life seeks to involve the many over the few. To that end its methodology is informed by Participatory Learning and Action (PLA ) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). Drawing exercises and story-telling games are chosen so as to overcome barriers of illiteracy and to ensure the equal participation of boys and girls. Theatre for Life emphasises process over product. Facilitators work with children to identify an issue which they feel is of concern to them. Once a group issue has been selected, open-ended Forum Theatre-style improvisations are used to explore it from different perspectives. The improvisation sequences are supplemented with group discussions aimed at locating the chosen issue within the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

When the children have arrived at a deeper understanding of the issue they use group storytelling games to generate a plot. The purpose of the resultant play is not to lecture audiences, but to engage them in dialogue. To that end, the plays do not prescribe a solution. Rather, they limit themselves to illustrating the problem, which they then pose to the audience as a question to be answered. Immediately after the performance the child actors go into the audience to facilitate a discussion on how the problem might be solved. This discussion will allow the actors to gauge audience perceptions of the problem and the extent to which consensus exists. If the audience is divided, the group knows it must carry out further work to raise awareness of the issue and challenge prevailing attitudes. If the audience is united in concern over the problem, a community-led solution can be designed and implemented.

Development Issues
Children, Conflict, Rights, HIV/AIDS, Female Genital Mutilation.
Key Points
In addition to community-mobilization, child development is a significant outcome. Throughout the process children are given basic performance skills. Besides serving them as actors on stage, they also work to enhance the child’s confidence and assertiveness. The use of improvisational sequences and discussions works to improve the participant’s analytical and communication abilities. By running their own theatre groups, identifying issues of concern to them and using drama for advocacy, child participants can significantly alter adult perceptions of their worth and status.

This is an ongoing project. An evaluation of its impact is expected sometime in late 2006/early 2007 and the results will be posted on this site.
Partners

The Theatre for Life project is being implemented by the Communication and Advocacy Section of UNICEF Sudan in partnership with the Child Friendly Community Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Health of the Government of Sudan.

Sources

E-mail to The Communication Initiative from Paul Moclair on March 16 2006