“And so the wonder we created finally took shape: about 300 people squatting under the trees and on the various sides of the field await intrepidly the start of the show.”
The second mission of the #lemieradici project in partnership with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), CCM and CIfa Onlus – is about to come to an end. The first of the three community events planned by the project has concluded in the Woreda of Ambassel. The focus of the event was the theme of sexual health.
The event included a parade from the central square of Wuchale to the Youth Friendly Service, where sexual health services are provided, a show and a ritual.
During the parade, the citizens of Wuchale carried signs with slogans about good sexual health practices and were accompanied by the roll of drums. Once they reached the Youth Friendly Service, the doctors joined the parade and created a coffee ceremony accompanied by a blessing. The parade stopped and some young people performed traditional dances from the Wollo region. Then the parade resumed its course towards the football field where a line of actor-doctors awaited it to start the show.
“And so the wonder we created finally took shape: about 300 people squatting under the trees and on the various sides of the field await intrepidly the start of the show.” Meanwhile, to not forget the focus of the project on awareness, at a point in the field there was the possibility of taking an HIV test and condoms were distributed for free. The event ended with a large final circle that included all those present.
During the organization of the Social and Community Theatre workshop that led to the realization of the show and the first community event, the TSC operators on the field had to face two major difficulties. The first concerned the group building process: after working with 10 young people from Ambassel together with an equivalent number of young people from the other two nearby Woredas, the two operators found themselves having to create a new group for the show, composed of the first 10 kids and citizens of Ambassel of different ages. However, the intergenerational mix gave new life to the show and allowed on the one hand the exchange of artistic and manual skills between citizens and expert artisans and the young people, and on the other hand strengthened the role of the 10 young people who introduced the newcomers into a process already started”. We have noticed more and more how much the kids have grown and how they have gradually become passionate about the work,” say the operators.
The second difficulty emerged in the week of preparation for the event: as a place for rehearsals and the show, Wuchale, the capital of the Amabassel Woreda, an hour from Hayk, where the workshops were initially held, was chosen for greater visibility. Every day the operators and the TSC group had to find a different room for rehearsals.
Then, the rain came and the event was postponed to the next day: “returning home wet and destroyed, we tried to recharge for the next day,” add the operators, “because then, as if by magic, one way or another things in Ethiopia always work out”. Thus begins a new week, in view of the second community event in Worebabo.
