Drama used to fight poverty of expectation in Tanzania

Financial Times: Drama used to fight poverty of expectation in Tanzania

Camfed, the British charity that supports girls' education in rural Africa, has helped more than 12,000 pupils in Tanzania stay at primary school through its safety net fund. It does so by offering the most basic aid, helping children – especially those who have lost both parents – by giving them pens, exercise books or uniforms. Even these can be unaffordable to many families.

"Primary education for girls [offers] probably the highest return available [on] investment in Africa and the developing world," says Larry Summers, the former US Treasury secretary. "It transforms societies as it empowers women, improves literacy, health and the environment."

Poor health and Aids have had a severe impact in Iringa, where the school is situated: 198 of the 916 pupils have lost a parent. Shida, 13, is one of them. Her father died when she was eight. "The problem is getting school clothing and having no sweater as it gets very cold in this area," she says.

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Yet girls suffer far more. Camfed has encouraged the school to stage a play showing this. In it, the girl whose parents do not care about girls' education is called Camfed. The boy who plays her father is called Nyadosi, the name of a wilting vegetable leaf in the local Kihehe language. Each time his name is mentioned the children collapse into giggles.

An obstinate father, he warns that girls are useless and that if they go to school they will only return pregnant. Reeling home from a pub, he drunkenly sings: "I'm never going to send my girl child to school, even if I am bewitched."

The play opens with a song in Swahili. "Girls have the right to get an education. . . She should not be put in violation of her rights by female genital mutilation or rape," it says, before continuing to argue that boys should do household chores equally. Finally, they should "have shares in banks and should not be married off before the proper time".

"Drama has been used a lot to pass on development messages especially in rural areas. The literacy rate was very low, so it was not very effective to use the written message, but when you use the performing arts the message gets across very fast," says Penina Mlama, director of Camfed, Tanzania, who is also a published playwright.

At the end of the drama the actors self-consciously took their bows. Those whose characters were against girls' education, all add this caveat: "God forbid that it should be like that."