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Mitigating HIV/AIDS in the Education Sector

Theater for Development (TFD)

Photo of a drama MESA has been charged to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS in education sector. The first component in the Social Mobilization Campaign Conceptual Model, Theater for Development (TFD) research and verification serves four principal purposes:

uncover high risk HIV/AIDS behaviors, practices and beliefs (often embedded in highly sensitive cultural norms and traditions) with direct reference to raising educational quality;
verify the findings with the communities concerned, and at the same time;
sensitize them to the consequences of such practices; and then
mobilize them to begin searching for remedies for their children's better future.

The roles of SMCs and PTAs feature highly under the last bullet and embrace school planning and management issues to give a meaningful context to the perceived "better future."

MESA planned for 20 TFD sites, 5 per district. Of the 20, 12 are full scale research and verification sites (3 per district). The other 8 sites (2 per district) are for sensitization. Research and verification sites were chosen by district teams and visited for each of the four impact districts based on HIV/AIDS Proliferation behavior (areas where high risk HIV/AIDS behaviors are most prevalent, and areas where there were more sexually transmitted infections).

Each site required a total of six days for action research, story line development, crosschecking issues wherever necessary, conducting two participatory performances and evaluation. The figure below better illustrates the flow of the TFD Process.

Diagram of TFD Process: Fact Finding is at the top with an arrow pointing downward to Data psychiatry. Arrow downward to Storyline Development. Arrow downward to Rehearsal. Arrow Downward to Performance. Arrow downward to evaluation.

Diagram of TFD Process: Fact Finding is at the top with an arrow pointing downward to Data psychiatry. Arrow downward to Storyline Development. Arrow downward to Rehearsal. Arrow Downward to Performance. Arrow downward to evaluation.

The first TFD performance was done at Mchilima Primary School, Puteya Education Zone, Traditional Authority Mposa in Machinga District.