Culture and HIV/AIDS

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Title of project

Laphumi’langa (Xhosa for ‘sunrise’)

Organisation

The Mothertongue Project

Country/region

South Africa, Khayelitsha – Western Cape

Project focus

The aim of the project was to raise awareness of the link between violence against women and HIV/AIDS, recognising that broader gender inequities play a role in the spread of HIV/AIDS. In particular the project aimed to:

• Create awareness of the value of drama in fostering change with emphasis on the voices of the affected and infected, targeting community based organisations working around these issues;
• Build the capacity of a pilot group of 28 women to use drama to articulate issues around violence against women and HIV/AIDS;
• Build the capacity of the pilot group to assess and analyse their own personal narratives in relation to the intersections between violence and HIV/AIDS;
• Build the capacity of the women to make informed choices around situations of violence in their own lives and their HIV status (if they are HIV positive).

Photo 1: Laphumi’langa Outreach Work (Courtesy of the Mothertongue Project)

Background

The Mothertongue Project is a collective of women artists, facilitators and healing practitioners who explore practical processes of healing through the arts. Founded in 2000, the focus is on enabling participants to discover and recover their own resources for self-healing. Attention is also given to exploring alternative ways of resolving conflicts, both personal and interpersonal. Methodologies include Forum Theatre, Image Theatre, Physical Theatre/Movement, Storytelling, Visual Arts, Creative Writing and Expressive Arts Therapies.

As part of its performance work, the Mothertongue Project has conducted workshops for women with AIDS, the homeless, single mothers and those suffering from domestic violence. The workshops provide participants with the space to access and creatively express their personal stories. From the feedback received, it is clear that the work allows participants to begin the journey of healing past traumas. The Mothertongue Project believes that the arts are “a gentle tool for confronting otherwise devastating past experiences”.

Mothertongue’s work with HIV/AIDS starts from the premise that there is a clear link between, gender, power and HIV/AIDS transmission. The township of Khayelitsha outside CapeTown has a high incidence of rape, which is impossible to calculate as so much goes unreported. It was also the scene of the horrific rape and murder of lesbian women. The Laphumi’langa project grew out of discussions with a range of CBOs and the Rape Crisis Centre, as a means of raising awareness about the link between gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS transmission, and to bring hope and inspiration.

Level of cultural intervention used in the project

Culture as Context: The principal cultural context was the process of gendering women and men. Project participants saw this as the main factor that exacerbates notions of superiority by men. This was exemplified in reference to the initiation process for young men amongst the amaXhosa. This practice is known as ulwaluko. The participants argued that when boys are taught philosophies of manhood in the bush, the idea that men are heads of families and stronger than women are emphasised and internalised by young men. However, as part of social teachings for young women during Ntonjane (their own rite of passage), they are socialised to accept that a married woman must submit to the will of the man of the house. A married woman’s – umakoti’s – duty is to safeguard the problems of her home; she must place the family’s needs before her own and must not question her husband’s authority.

Culture as Expression: While forum theatre is an external cultural tool, it enabled the participants to construct their own dramas and plays based on their own experiences, and establish a powerful dialogue with mixed township audiences. The creation of these dramas and their public performances had a therapeutic value for the performers.

Culture as Content: The project is embedded in amaXhosa culture, custom and language.

Photo 2: Laphumi’langa Outreach Work (Courtesy of the Mothertongue Project)

Activities

The project employed participatory arts methodologies to explore the intersections between violence against women and HIV/AIDS. Using drama as a key element of communication it engaged in an analysis of the gendered dynamics of HIV/AIDS and the lived realities of the women participants. This included the crisis of rape, physical abuse at the hands of their partners, poverty, unemployment, dealing with living with the HI virus and disclosing their HIV status.

A group of 28 women were identified through support groups, volunteers and counsellors within three organisations, Simelela Rape Clinic, TAC and Wola Nani, to participate in a two week training workshop. The women were introduced to forum theatre and the process of creating plays that would lead to audience participation. The workshop itself created a ‘safe space’ for women to recount and explore their experiences.

A variety of arts-based exercises that included but were not limited to creative writing, photography and role plays, led to discussions on the participants’ perceptions about the causes of violence against women in their community. The discussion around power relations in the home led to the investigation of women’s sexual power. The popular perception that sex is better when it is inyama enyameni (flesh on flesh) or ilekese ayityiwa isephepheni (a sweet is not eaten with its wrapper around it) was raised. Most women had accepted that it is the man’s role to initiate sex, partly because it causes less friction within the relationship. Men are quick to mistrust and feel insecure if a woman initiates or suggests new methods in the bedroom. Such efforts only give him the impression that the woman is a ‘whore’.

This and other such discussions led to twelve outreach performances with eight different plays performed between June and August 2006. These were performed to
diverse audiences in Khayelitsha at variety of venues: church events, taxi and bus termini, shopping malls, advocacy events organised by local partners and at local community centres.

The pilot group was also part of a 16 day campaign against violence on women and children. These activities involved a range of outreach activities including radio campaigns by the women on community radio – Bush Radio and Radio Zibonele.

Photo 3: Laphumi’langa Outreach Work (Courtesy of the Mothertongue Project)

Outcomes

The project reached approximately 5000 people and an additional 2000 people during the 16 days campaign.

The responsibility to create plays independently within group situations prepared the 28 participants to direct and design their own plays for future outreach performances. Some of the participants repeatedly acknowledged that the work has had effects on their own lives and on members of the audience. An interview with Mothertongue’s field assistant facilitator validated these claims. She mentioned that five women from the Laphumi’langa group have come to her to relate stories of change in the way they led their lives since being part of the project.

The women themselves feel confident in their abilities as change agents since receiving a positive response from the community.

“I gained knowledge that there is something that I can do for myself, I didn’t know that I could stand in front of people and make a play. I have always had no confidence in myself, now I am confident.”

“I see myself taking the work that I have done here to my support group so that we too can go out and show people how to be independent, because we will be protecting those that think they know, when they know nothing.”

The plays opened up vibrant discussions on socio-cultural issues, which are understood to be at the heart of the twin issues of VAW and HIV. The discussions questioned the traditional roles of women and Xhosa culture in relation to gender issues.

While audiences largely consisted of women and youth, there were also a fair number of men present who engaged with the performances, sometimes positively, sometimes exhibiting the very attitudes the project was trying to change.

Feedback

Partner organisations have expressed enthusiasm for the project outcomes and have requested continued involvement as the project evolves.

The participants have been interviewed and their sense of their own development recorded.

Women in the audience bore testimony to the way the plays had made them more confident in seeking help and solidarity.

“The play reflected upon issues within the community. Women stay in abusive relationships because that is all they know. It goes back to the way we were brought up. I see women in abusive relationships where the mother will stay. But me, I can stand up since I have seen this play and will join a group for help.”

Evaluation

The project used participatory evaluation methods including focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and monitoring workshops that were conducted during project implementation. A process of appreciative inquiry was also integral to the evaluation process. Documentation includes evaluation reports, project reports, activity reports documenting outreach work and video documentation.

An Impact Assessment Report (on which this case study draws) was undertaken by Awino Okech of Mothertongue with support from Unifem.

There has not been an external evaluation.

Future Plans

The Mothertongue Project recently moved its offices to Johannesburg and intends to implement the Laphum' Ilanga project which aims to continue the awareness raising through outreach performances conducted within schools, institutions of higher learning, religious institutions and advocacy events. Through structured forums the goal is to document community oriented strategies that can be implemented programmatically in partnership with local organisations. Activities peak during the annual 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, which is supported by community media.

It is intended to pilot a continuous series of Experiential Training and Support using arts therapies with a concentration in drama therapy for Counsellors. This training series will target experienced counsellors practising within the community-based organisations in Khayelitsha.

Partners

Local partners: Simelela Rape Centre, Wola Nani, Treatment Action Campaign – Khayelitsha.

Donors

United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

Start Date

January-December 2006

Sources

Sarah Matchett

Contact

Sara Matchett
The Mothertongue Project
P.O. Box 298, Wits, 2050, Johannesburg, 2050

+27 (0)72 183 7866

info@mothertongue.co.za
www.mothertongue.co.za

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence.