ADDIS ABABA, February 19, 2007 – A new interactive play entitled "Walkers of Life" depicting typical Ethiopian college life opened on Wednesday February 14, 2007 at the Addis Ababa University.
“Walkers of Life” is brought to life by five memorable characters in a hilarious situation struggling to maintain their decisions and survive the harsh college life specially the full paced social life. The setting, Beg Tera, is right outside girls’ dormitory and is a usual scene to see boys hanging around waiting for their girl friends. Boys are not allowed to enter girls’ dormitory.
Forum theatre format is typically interactive and “Walkers of Life” focuses on the campus life of students and the sexual risk behaviors examining the knowledge, attitude and practice, in this case the audience - the students. There are intervals at which a moderator comes forth and asks the audience for an opinion or challenges them on some controversial issues.
“I was amazed at how involved the audience was and responded to the moderator with enthusiasm. Students argued openly on the merits of abstinence, faithfulness and correct and consistent use of condoms. We are really happy with the turn of events,” says Dr. Endale Workalemahu, Behavioral Change Communication Officer of CDC Ethiopia.
The play is part of the Modeling and Reinforcement to Combat HIV/AIDS (MARCH Project) at Addis Ababa University targeting the Addis Ababa University students, academicians and administrative staff with abstinence, mutual fidelity and other preventions beyond abstinence and faithfulness. The organizers hope that such an interactive play would create an environment where the audience, freely and easily interact with each other based on the issues raised within the play. The show will travel to the various campuses of Addis Ababa University.
Present at the opening were, CDC-Ethiopia Country Director, Dr. Tadesse Wuhib; President of Addis Ababa University, Professor Andrias Eshete; and the Deans and Directors of AAU, college students and various prominent individuals. 2,175 people attended the official opening of the Forum Theatre at the Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Business and Economics Hall.
Addis Ababa University (AAU) has twelve different campuses with an estimated 30,000 students plus 3,000 academic staff. Students come from various parts of the Ethiopia, both from urban and rural parts. The whole production was undertaken by the University’s School of Theatrical Arts.
According to a survey conducted in the colleges a considerable number of students are exposed to chances of contracting HIV. They are exposed to opportunities that present the possibility of engaging in unsafe sexual practices that may lead to HIV infection. Some of the reasons are the absence of immediate parental guidance, change of environment, and the need to “fit in,” peer pressure and/or the desire for new experiences.
MARCH project promotes behaviors that reduce the risk of HIV infection by demonstrating role models changing behavior through time. The project also includes reinforcement activities to create an environment in which these positive behaviors are discussed and assimilated in a peer group setting and sustained via community support.
The AAU-MARCH project gets financial supported from PEPFAR through CDC Ethiopia and is provided technical support from JHU/CCP-ARC and US CDC.
Sori Ararsa
AAU-MARCH Project Coordinator
Addis Ababa University
Office of Research and Graduate Programs
P.O.Box 1176
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: +251-11-1248887
Fax: +251-11-1231087
sori@aau.edu.et
http://www.aau.edu.et/march/