Masaka Ariel Club Meeting: Humor and Satire in Children’s Plays
By Eliab Natumanya
Kampala, Uganda
February 21, 2008

It was a bright morning on January 25, 2008, the day the Ariel Children’s Club meeting in Uganda’s Masaka District. I arrived at the venue for the meeting shortly after 9:00 a.m. Some of the children had arrived and were singing and dancing. I entered the room for the meeting and joined the singing and dancing spree. The children who were responsible for the drumming were performing their assignment in the best way possible. I saw talent in these children.

As we finished the singing and dancing, the children were introduced to me and the rest of the EGPAF staff, and we introduced ourselves to them.

The theme for the day was: managing stigma and discrimination. The children were divided into three groups to compose and present a drama highlighting the stigma and discrimination they face while at home, at school and in the community. The children were given only 15 minutes to come up with a script and translate it into a play, and then do a presentation. Each group started discussing ideas and rehearsing. I was left wondering how children could conceptualize ideas and come up with a play within such a short time frame.

Fifteen minutes on, the first group was called to stage their play on stigma and discrimination at home. Their presentation highlighted the plight of a child whose mother died and was now living with her paternal uncle. The play illustrated how the HIV-infected children were not allowed to share household utensils, such as cups and spoons, with other children who are HIV-negative. The play presented a gloomy picture of what transpires in the homes of many of these children.

It was then time for another group to present. As the group prepared, I heard voices of other children singing just outside the building where we were seated. It was another group of children that had just arrived for the meeting. A colleague told me that the children always sing while traveling for such meetings. Guess what they were singing about? Hope, compassion, faith, and peace. As they entered, the group settled and we postponed the next play for a few minutes.

The next presentation was about stigma and discrimination at school, specifically in the classroom. Two of the HIV-positive children were made to sit on one side of the bench, leaving a huge gap between them and the other children. The teacher didn’t give the HIV-infected children an opportunity to answer any of the questions in the class, despite their desire to participate.

The last group’s presentation highlighted stigma and discrimination in the community. It was a story of how the community still thinks that the virus can be transmitted if an HIV-positive person plays football (soccer) with an HIV-negative one.

At the end of the presentations, I was left mesmerized with the speed at which the children quickly conceptualized ideas. After the presentations, we discussed what we learned and the possible ways of dealing with the gloomy scenarios depicted in the dramas. Among the many suggestions that came up was sensitizing the community and teachers about HIV/AIDS.

While the dramas presented depressing circumstances, they also gave us something to laugh about. The children used humor and satire to drive their points home. As I write this, the memories of the songs sung, prayers made, poems recited, encouraging testimonies given, and dramas presented are still fresh in my mind.

I am Eliab Natumanya, a monitoring and evaluation officer with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in Uganda. I joined the Foundation in September 2007. Before then, I worked as a technical assistant (monitoring and evaluation) with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Uganda.