Week 2: Music Man! Let’s Take a Walk Down Memory Lane

Location: Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

I initially applied to this program for three main reasons: 1) The Public Health Research portion seemed like a great opportunity to expand my capacity in qualitative and social research. I embraced the idea of encountering research in a new field and understanding the methodology. 2) HIV/AIDS has always been a huge issue in Africa. I wanted to understand the programs that the government and NGOs implant to prevent and limit the spread of HIV/AIDS. And 3) was purely exotic reasons. I imagined this as a rare chance to go somewhere unknown and culturally different to get away from the very routine and stress-filled life back at home. I had the impression that this Public Health Program in Uganda was solely a prospect to recognize how social research is conducted in a developing country, and why Uganda has been relatively successful in decreasing the amount of HIV/AIDS in the country. Little did I recognize that so much of the education and socioeconomic aspects of Ugandan culture is dependent upon music, dance and drama.

Mulago Bright Primary School:
One of the NGOs we visited was Mulago Bright. This primary school is one of the poorer primary schools in Kampala. They have many orhphaned children and can only provide enough financial aid for a handful of students to move past the primary level into secondary level of schooling. It was amazing how despite their financial situation, they have brought back awards for best dance, poem, and music in the nation. After performing for us, I was amazed at how well rehearsed the students were in sing song and dance in reference to sanitation and health concepts. I had no idea how much Ugandans have learned through song and dance. The children listen very well through their interpretations of healthy living through music, dance and drama.

MDD Training:
The past week, we have been training for an upcoming performance at Basibi/Nabisiogi, in which we perform in front of the village with local dances and music we learn in the previous two weeks. This has provided us. The most compelling aspect of this training involves a drama play in which medical experts (some of the students) explain the reason behind good sanitation such as using toilets, mosquito nets, and sleeping away from animals. Even the dances have interpretations, in which undervalued parts of the body seem to take precedence in some dances.

The significant difference in how music and dance interpreted in the states and in Uganda is astounding. MDD is used as an educational experience for health, among other issues in this developing country, while the states usually seem to use music and dance to interpret feelings and emotions. The use of MDD is great, but it makes me wonder how the time is allocated among educational experiences. MDD seems to take a significant amount of their time, so where does the time for classroom education go? The government, since the 1900s have implemented many programs to increase education. For example, Universal Primary Education (UPE) was introduced in 1997, allowing all children to attend primary school for free. Public schools increased and in just one year, the number of attendees in primary school increased by 70%. MDD is great in teaching students basic health, but it makes me wonder if the students are still given enough education time for other topics, such as math, language, science, etc. Would it better to allocate the time and money elsewhere, or is the primary health education still necessary for Uganda?