Edutainment vital tool in war on HIV/AIDS-Mogae

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Monday March 29, 2010 00:00

Mogae hailed edutainment - a form of education which is designed to be entertaining, in order to keep people interested and engaged - as an effective mass communication tool that could help curb the spread of HIV and AIDS of which the Southern Africa region is the epicentre.

Mogae said the creative participation of the youth in the pursuit of an HIV free generation is by far impressive and that if creative abilities are fully employed to communicate the message, he was hopeful that there would be a change of behaviour.

'It calls for mobilisation, and our knowledge and active participation especially from the youth,' he said.

However, he stated that as much as the media has endorsed and embraced an HIV free generation through the various outlets, he emphasised the importance of having the political leadership participate, owning and envisaging an HIV free generation.

The former president said this during the launch of Second Chances, the latest of Untold - a series of televised stories which are part of Soul City's OneLove campaign, whose aim is to encourage having one sexual partner at a time. 

Second Chances, a local production set in Botswana follows Rebel Rhymes and others produced in the region, which are a collaborative effort between SADC countries and Soul City to curb HIV and AIDS through edutainment.

Produced by Kabo Monare and directed by Busang Motsumi the 24-minute long piece (with others from the region) will start airing on Botswana Television (Btv) on Thursday (April 1).

The 24 minutes drama goes to and from the present and flashes back in Lesedi's life. A young woman from a rural setting who had beaten the odds by being the first from the Moeng family to get admitted at the University and is full of hope that she will break the yolks of poverty. As hopeful as she is, she is also determined to excel academically. However, she gets more absorbed into the fast, material oriented world of the academia and city life that she resorts to intergenerational sexual relationships in lieu of beauty and flashy dresses. While reading law at the University of Botswana (UB) she meets Monamodi, not only bestowed in the artistic sense but also a caring and loving young man who spends most of his time painting and not into the fast life that most people of his endearing looks are into.

Lesedi drowns into city life, to an extent that she becomes master of the cards with a well kept wardrobe department due to sexual ties with an older man who owns a boutique. However, Lesedi trades her mother's wishes and hers as well as her dreams of graduating from poverty when the wife of the older man tests HIV positive. The drama ends suddenly after she learns that the older man's wife is HIV positive.

In the previous series of Untold, the local storyline of Rebel Rhymes was woven around a child-headed household through a fast paced musical dram. Using local rap commonly known as Motswako, it depicts a rebellious teenager forced to become the parent to his orphaned siblings after the death of his mother.

Head of the Soul City Regional Programme Harriet Perlman, explained that  Untold - stories in a time of HIV & AIDS - was their first regional film series for TV, which brought together stories from nine Southern African countries. The series was broadcast on public television in 2009 across the nine countries in the region and research showed that the series was hugely successful.

'Audiences from across Southern Africa identified with the films,' he said.  

He further said the series, developed in collaboration with Curious Pictures, also saw new and exciting talent emerge, both in front of and behind the camera. Untold was internationally recognised and shown at film festivals in both Europe and America, he said.