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University of Nigeria Virtual Library

Serial No

Author 1 OBIDOA, Mabel A. Ph.D

Author 2 OBIDOA Chinekwu A

Author 3

Title

Applying Folk Media in Knowledge Dissemination for HIV/AIDS

Prevention.

Keywords

Description Journal

Category Educational Foundation

Publisher

Publication Date 2007

Signature

I

I I I I I ~ I ; I ~ I ~ n ~ i ~ ~ ~ n o t l c l ' i c i c ~ ~ c y Viws ( 1 11 V), \vIiicI~ I ~ ~ ~ I - C S S C S to Actpired Immunotlcficicncy Sy11t11.oincs ( / \ I 1 IS), I I O W ;I paiitlcn~ic, Iiiis p ~ ~ v i ~ l c ~ ~ c c rate of 5.8 to 6% in Africa. 'l'l~c ~xtu I'or Nsuhka :irca is I~i;!llcr. 01ic out ol' cvcrp 12 infected persons in Africa lives i n Nigeria, Al'sica's ~llost I ~ ~ I ~ I I I ~ O I I S count sy. 111 Ni gcsia, more than 3.5 million people have alrcatly died 01' AIIIS i ~ n t l ; I I I O I ~ I C I . 3.5 million livc with i l (IJNAIIX,',OOI); Ikspitc tlic worlclwitlc antl na~ion-widc awarcncss already created, as many as 800 people still get infcctcd daily and 00% of' ~llcsc arc wmien. 'l'lic scxr~ally active ant! ti~ost protii~ctive groilp, agcd 15-29 arc tlic ~iiost vulncsablc to 1-IIV/AII)S. Death-from A I I X is therefore the cleat11 of prod~~ct ivc young P L Y ~ J I C ~ 1 1 0 \vo111d otIi~'~~\visc Iw co~~tril)lltitig 1 0

111c tlcvclop~iic~it ol' their cotn~~i l i~i i~ics ii~ld cou11t1.y. Worse still, they Icave behind young families. 98% of a11 AIDS 01-plia~is livc in Al'sica. Young atlolesccnls drop out of scliool to cart for tl~cir p:11~1its W I I O asc i l l ( IS i111pi1isi:d t ~ y AlllS 01. to C ~ I C 1'01. siblink :IS fmnily lic:~ds wlicn their pa rc~~ l s IILI ve. diccl 01' /\II)S. I

-1 The ckvasl;~ting cl'l'cc~ ol' IIIV//\II~S is 1101 lii~lilctl to u r h a ~ l populali 11s alone. Ih-al popdations ai-c also at'l'cctcd. I11 tllc soiitli cast zone of Nigcria, the a ea of this P ~ t ~ d y , 'the P ~ C V ~ ~ I C I ~ C C S;IIC for I.III . ;I~ ; I I ~ I I I . ~ ; I I I ;II.C;IS ;IIC 0.5 ;1nd 4.5 r.espectiv' l y (UI3E, 2004). In tlcvclopi~ig col~ntics likc Nigcri:~. rip to 60% ol' 1l1c pop~il:~tio~i still l i cs in rrli-al i i\rcils. Igriosa~~cc a l ~ d solilc ci~ll~ir:ii ~wacliccs s ~ ~ c l ~ ils clcarising ol' widows 41fter ~licir huslxiricls' dc;lrl~ ant1 wiii: ~ l ~ i i ~ . i i l ; ; expose pcoplc to the vil-us. In some parts of lgbolanci (Nigeria), when a widow complcrcs rlic sriplilawl days of mourning for her husband, she is cxpected ro go to ;I s1sc;lrn i11 iiigl~l \ \ 3 1 ~ ~ : ~ . ~ b il I I I ~ I H \ Y I I O I ~ I I C ~ I i l k ~ ~ lies 10 IWI( will :hilt11 Iicr. A widow's l i u s l ~ a ~ ~ d I ~ I ; I ~ II;IVC diixl 01 ' /\ll)S 1111d SIIC codd bc inf'ectetl, tkereby

. . spreading the inl'cction to the ncw lovcl-. As sign ol' Iiospit;rlity, cspccially arriong some tribal groups, a man m:ly Icnti his wil'c 10 ;I visiting I'ricnd for the night.

A lot 01' effort to co111lx11 ~l lc IIIV/AII)S pmdornic is being made globally a id nationally; In Nigeria, thc govcsn~ncllt ~llsougli its various arms especially the National Colntnittcc on IIIV/AIIlS pscvc~ition, 11on-govcrn~nc~ihl organizations, groups and individuals arc participirting i l l lllc c ; ~ ~ ~ i p a i g ~ i s against I IIV/AIIlS. Generally the catnpaign groi~ps adopt LI strategy 01' telling pcoplc ahout IIIVIAIDS through handbills, postcrs, billboards, tclcvision a11d radio, I'ii'ms and vitlco clips. '1'0 an audience fil~niliar with wcstcrn cul[~rrc, (;I rcircling i i ~ i t l \wiling L ' I I I I I I I . ~ ) . ~ I I C S C IIIC;IIIS arc effwtivc. 'The same rniiy not hc said 01' pcoplc wllo l~avc ' :~ clil'l'csc~~t c~~ l lu rc likc Il~csc rur;\I people whose indigcno~~s cult~irc is basccl 011 or;il t~.iiclilioi~s i111d wl~o rcly on listening antl speaking for

, . most ol' t1ic:ir co1111i1unicatio11s. I o cognili vvl y r i x l i this popul;~lio~i i n a way Illat c c ~ l d

1 K I I O I I * ~ ~ ~ , ~ G~rrc~rrrrio~r cirrtl Di.sscn~i~lrrtior~ 79

I; I . I h w can folk mcclia hc ~~sccl i n :I villagc setting to disscmirwte information ilbout

I-IIVIAIDS? 2. 'Ib what extcnt wjll lllc vill;~gcrs acccpl folk media as a means of knowledge

, dissemination'? 3. '1'0 what cxtcnl will tllc villagers t1cmonstl;rtc undcrst;rndin of IllV/AIDS

I, knowlctlgc clclivcrcd ~ l l r o ~ ~ g l ~ I'ol k ~nctlia'! I. ' .

hll I~;'l'I1OI~S Rcscarch Dcsign . . I lie rcsearclicrs cliosc to IISC l l~c (>~~ali~i~livc/l)cscril~livc Casc S111dy llcscurcli Design (Creswcll, 1994; Marshall and l<oss111:111: 1080 Met-l-ism, 1988) 1)ccause they considered it most appropriate for this study wliosc pi~rposc is to achicve its full understanding as possiblc of a phenomenon and provide ~ I I I ill~c~lsivc dcscriptio~l of a unique, innovative programme. Macllonald and Walker (1877: 18 1 ) dcfine case study as "the examination of :In instnncc in acrion in ot-tlcr to tlcvclop gcncral theoretical statemenls about regularities -in social strwturc m t l proccss". 'l'l~is s t ~ d y sct out to try a new mcdia for IIIV/AlDS.knowlcdgc disscn~ina~io~i ( I k l k riictli;l), an instancc in action, Ihr the purpose of (leveloping ~ C I I C I - ~ I ~ thcorctical slat cnlwts ahou~ its use in the social structure and process.

A bounded system as rccomn~cnclcd by Milcs and IIuhcrman (1984) wa built into tlic disign. ~ o n s c q u c n t l ~ , c lc ;~~ . tlt~sc~.ip~ ions i l l c 131 ovidcd I'or I tic set ling or site the :ictors or subjecls or sat-riple, the cvct~ts and proccss or t l~c evolving stages in the stud , 'I'lrc Hcscarclicrs Rolc - 'I'lic rcscarchcrs in this s t d y ;qu i rcd i~n<iergraduate training in I geography, which madc them convc~.s:rnt with rwal geography. 'I'liey have also lived in tlic arcil and havc the sumc Ini~gwgc ( 1 ~ 1 1 11ot clialcct) md cult111~ wit11 thesc pepple licncc heir apprccintion and convcrsalicc will1 tllc rclcvant fo lk nicclia. 'I'hc reseafchers also brought into this study thcir various ;Ireas o f spccii~lization in guidance and counseling an$ public hcaltli, i 'I'lic Guid:~ncc c o ~ ~ ~ ~ s c l o r IS ~lic co-o~di~l i~to~. ol' ~ l ic progriilnmc and also a participant ohservcr. I'ermission to cilrry out ~ h i s work was obtained in writing and the villagers were informed about i t 11si11g t l~c local announcement mcdia. Ethical issues were considered and stcps wcrc taken to ensurc the confidcntiality and anonymity of all informants. Mdtiplc data collcclion proccdurc was also adopted to neutralize participant researcher bias. ,

Rounding the study 'I'lic rcscurch s i ~ c or scttillg I l l i j ; ~ l ~ i l l Nsukk;~ local govcrn~ncnt alecil of Enlrgu State, -------PA--- -

Nigeria, was thc sitc of' thc rcscas-ch. 11 is a typical rural area in Nigeria and has il four- day periodic market on 'Nkwo' days. 'I'lie market square on an 'Nkwo' market day in Aug 2003 provided a typical rui-a1 population and sitc for the study. Sample (Actors) and Satnplc Sclcclion

I'robability smipling (('hcin. '198 1 ) was dollc. I lo~liy~lan ( I 982) recorntncnds this smpli tig tcclinicjuc l i ~ r rcsca~cl~ 111t11 i~ltc~ids to usc data collcc tcd to solvc qualitative problcrns sucli as discovct- w h i t occrrrs, it's iillplicalio~ls md I I I C rcl ; l t i~~sl~ips linking IIIC occurrences. Specifically, CitxtL and lac ('o~nptc's ( 1984) typical case selcctiorl was done wlierc tllc rescarclicrs dcvclupccl u prol'ilc ot' attributes posscsscci by all nvcrage rural' comt~iullity and tllcn soii~lil an i~lstancc vt' this i l l rcal lifc. Ix j j a . . comti~uriity ~nalched the description of a typical Nigcrim rural c o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i i m i t y hy all 1~i l r i l111Ct~rS S U C ~ I :IS physical accessibility, literacy Icvcl. and access to clcctricity atid clectric/elcclronic media of cntertainmcnt Vs iisc of 1oci.d languagc and ~ncdia I'or entcrtainiiicnt and information dissemination. All tIlc villagers (about 300 i n I I ~ I I H I ) C I - ) i n tl~c markct square on the selcctcd ~narkct day iriadc u p tlic satiq~lc* lOr tllc study. Events and process.

Events and prwcsscs'in llic sludy wcrc 111adc up 01' all that W8S dorw to arrange ' for and cxeclttc thc IIIVIAIDS prcvcntio~~ caii~paig~l usiilg Ibtk 11icdia. 'I'liis was done i n stages. 1.

ii.

... 111.

iv.

v.

vi..

vii.

viii.

9

Defining ;l?jcctik for thc study and sclccting tl~c silc clmitig all pcrsonecl and ptogramnc base. . Teaching the YvurEl clisscnii~~utors irbo~~t I IIV/AI13S. 20 liigli schoul a d 80 undcrgraduak Youths hc~wccti 12-25. attclldi~~g a youth Icadcrship camp in Lejja wcrc taught about I IIVIAIUS hy ilu l~i~iiiut~o-cl~ctnis~ '1'0 ctlsurc that tiley ;had . their Pacts right. tlicy WI-otc a lancil i111d ~ I I P C ~ I C S ~ . * I ~ I C Y W C ~ C also rcquirdd to produce a lact shcet o r 1 I IIV/AIl)S crmtaini~lg thc snlicnl Facts about IIIV/AIDS in groups. I~lforrni~~g tlic villngcrs ;~l)ou~ 111c (lily 01' t l~c c i l ~ t ~ p i g ~ ~ . i 'I'hc youth chose I'lolrr i1111011g tt~clti ;I good spc;iC;cr \VIIO coiild co~~iliiul~icate scientific ktlowlcdgc to tlic ~ * ~ l l . i ~ l dw~1lc1.s i l l Nslikka di:iI~ct of Igbo l a ~ i ~ u $ ~ e . IIe practiced this cntiseicntiously. The youth also idct~til.icd a~iotlicr youth with spccinl kdc11ts in coltmuuicahg irirorlnation tlirough folk story ~clliilg. 'I'his yc1ut11 also practiced his role The youths workcd i n slnall groups lo Ica~ n various h l k ~ncdia uscd I'or attclitiori catcliing, entcrtaintncnt end commu~iiceting iilfonnetion, such as drutntnihg, dancing, wrestling and usc oS puppets. l ~ x p c ~ IS, who wcrc mostly studetits of the Mass-conl~iinrlicatioll mtI I1r:unrr dcp:~rtrnc~~~s of ihc Ihiversity of Nigeria, Nsukka, helpcd tlictn. A gcncrol costume rclicarsal Ihr tllc final pcrfimnat~cc was doue to establish scquciicc and ci~surc accwrrcy of I H I U I lii;rtitm. The final performal~cc on th,e marker d:~y i n 111c ii~arket square was lccl by [lie drumming group followcd by tlic wrcstlcrs, then rhc dancers, tlien the puppets. As the drumming beg11 to fiidc, rhc folk ralc narrator told his story in musical lorc, or tl~c dcadly discesc with :I ~iiissiori to kill and destroy. Finally, the speaker gave a full exposition on IIIVlAlllS to tllc cruwd ill thcir own native dialect.

Data collcclion 'I'hc cnd prrKluct ol' i\ cilsc study is u rich "~hicl; tlcscriphn" of the phenomenon

under study (Mcsriarn, 1988); i111c1 "~llick dcscrip~ion" is cxplained as a term from anthropology that mcuns complc~c li~cral tlcscriptim of' ~ l i c incidcnt or entity being invesligatcd. Wilsun (1079) citcd in Mcrriam (1988: I I - 13) wrircs;

. . . c t w srzitlics r r s ~ ~ z r o . ~ t rrul !iir c>r-clr:\) tcc:llrriqno.s to describe, elicit intclges and rmnlyze j.i~itntior~~ ... I'lrt~j1 pro.stJr~i d o t - l r ~ w ~ ~ rrrtiorl q/' c.\wtts, zprotes, snnlples nrui trrr$lrrs flrv ~ I m ~ r - i p ! i ~ ~ o ( Y I . Y C ~ 1 1 1 4 , i l l ( ld~i(-(~i iou is O I I ( ~ t l t d presents rr rletaile(1 trccorrnt r? / ' thr! pirrwcmorlc~r rrrrrlor. ,otrrt!\e .-.. ri Iristor-ic- ctrsr stlrrly thnl chronicles a

b

seqrrcwcc. oj'cvcnts . . . " ( A l c * m ' t r r r l I !lSS:2 7 ) .

intcrvicws, ph~togrilphs, vitlco-~qcs. wl-i~c-qx, tlissc~nina~ors' jnurnals, actual live perf'or~nances, pictures, and pci, :1m1 pcncil icsl. .\lid this u.:is done at ~hrek stages of the work Viz;

In stagc onc, data col lcc~~d i11clutlcd prc ml post test scores of dis b eminators on IIIV/AII)S inforlnatirm, phologtxpl~s ; I I ~ vidco covcragc iis wcll as the text,of the talk on IIIV/AII>S by tlw cxpcr~

I

In stage two, ohservo~ion. plw[os, vidco imd script of the talk on HIV/AIDS and fwt sheet prcparcd by tlic disscmin;~lors ctmsritl~tcd tllc dnta I

I In stage tlirec, pliotogrq~lis. video covclngc, live pcrformunces open-ended

interviews, commcnts by villagers and ohscrvatinns were used. A video clip of the entire process from stage 1 to stage 3 wiIs alsu protloccrl.

Data analysis Data interpretation and analysis was carried on simultaneously with data

collection and narrative rcport wriring as, i s ~ypical in qualitative research (Creswell, 1994; Merriam, 1985; 'l'esch, 1900). As data was collected, they were organized, sorted and put through tlic pl-occss oI' rcctr~c~icw, ir~lcrprcta~ic~n ;tnd 'scgnicntiilion' usitlg 'l'esch's 8 step procedure ('l'escli, 1990) mtil t l w w I;u-gc consolidarcd carcgories that embraced all the research qucstions in his st utly clncrgctl.

82 ' Obidm Mabel A. r r r d Obi(1utt Glrirrckwn A

'l'lic sccotid category cvolvcd [ro~ti ohscrv;~tiotrs. oral t-cl~orts dissctiii~iators' jounials, trinl perfcmianccs, scril)! 01' tlic ta lk givw in the ir~cal dialect ntld verbal reports from disseminators. * I inl'o~miatiorl gathcrcrl wcrc sortcd out, and arranged

#

- clironologically ir~ld wcrc cotlllx~~.ccl i111d COIIII-:ISICC~. '1'11~ r~sc:~rcI~cr vcril'icd a d confirmccl inlornialion li-om lllc point of' ctdlcctirm. wilhili illid across tllc sourccs of illformation cspccinl ly as the rcscw c1lc1.s could no1 hc i n ill l lllc grotips simultuticousl y.

Ihc dissctnitrntor's journals : r~d i~~li)t.~natiot~ wcrc I H ~ ~ C I I C ~ with observations. 'Mcmbcr checks' wcrc rlonc will1 I~o~ll I lw jrmwls :lnd pictiircs to cotll'ir-ni they were correct mid aurl~ctrtic. 'I'l~c rclicarsals wcr-c :dso watcl~cd, critiqued, aud plwtogr;~phing.

'I'hc last catcgory usccl vidcotuping. live pcrl'orri~a~iccs, pllotograplis observations, and open-cndcd ititcrvicws in tl~c ~wr~-kct sqrl;m. As tlissc~i)inators arr-ivcd and bcgnn by attracting thc attctitioli ol' ~lic vill;tgcrs. t~hwrvatirm a d vidco-covcl-agc mid plwtograplly started. a Ir~tcrvicws and jowmals collahol-a~cd ilic cvidcnoc of tlic evcnt, commcnts of the villagers were I-ccordcd t w d a full viclct, covcragc ol' tlw cvcnt was dam.

Validity of this work is :iIso i1iIraiI1 in tI~c sc~isc h t i t rcsuttcd i n but~wntie service whose succcss was built into it Sro111 stagcs o w to Ilircc. the lat~cr stages dcpcnding on the co~irylctivn of tl~c Sortiicr ones

Findings and I)iscussior~. 'I'he findings of this study wcrc PI-csc~itcd and cliscusscd u ~ ~ d c r each rcscarch question. Now cmt folk nleclin be zrsctl in tr vilirrgc. lo rii,wruirrtrte irforrrrn~io~l rrlrout NIV/AIlX.?

IIIV/AII>S infor~iiution was s~rucoss~ully clissc~rli~~;llctl lo villagcts z~sing folk ~ncdia. Scvcral writcrs have com~i~c~itctl r m the paucity of publisllcd irif'nrr~i:llion arid documentation of folk rricdiu (I'a~ilimI ct. :I\.. 200 1 ; Vati dcr Slitclwlc, 20UO.) 'Tlic h o d and Agriculture Organization of thc 1 l n i tcd Nqtio~ls (1:AO) rccom~ncncled that more

research should be (Van der Sti tclicle, identified 1 O'stages

Identifying tlic problcm - I 11 V/AII)S paiitlcmic Idcntifyiiig llrc ~ - g c \ group - rural popul;ition in Ix . j . ja. Chosing a coordinaror, cxpcrts, tritincl-s. assistants i~nd a programme base. Selecting [he spcil'ic ill-ts I folk mctlia to hc U S C ~ - dancing, drumming, puppetry, story letting, tcacliing and wrcslling. Chosing 11ic Ihlk ~n~cliir artists /pcrlOr~nc.~-s- tlisscmina~sm Training all t l i ~ Ctiss~~ni~i:~to~~s 011 1I1c k~~owlcdgc to bc disscminrrted - IIIV/AlI)S - causes, etiology, modc, sprcacl. pl-cvcntion ilnd helping victims Selecting from tllc tri~i~icd you~li, 1;1lcntcd pcclple Ibr the application of the different media and truining cach of 111cin in the selcctctl media Writing of scripts, Sact shcct and p-cparntion of mcssagcs. Conducting rehearsals, planning for. the pcrSo~-~n;mx Exec~rting 111c actual pcrl'or-~nancc.

conducrctl in ortlcr to understand how to apply folk media correctly 2000). Ikspilc this sccnwio, tlic resenrcl~ers in planning this work ~hnt '~ t~idcd t llc work. rl'ticsc i~rc:

10. Assessing, monitoring, recording a t d utalyxing stcps 1-9.

In executing the progralnmc, nu aspcct was found problematic. It is however interesting to note that in 2004, 'l'llcuri iil'icr his Swtli Africi~n expericnc eleven stages for the iinplcnicntatio~i of I'olk rncclii~ activities tlius;

(1.) Preliminary planning - sct psqjccl oI).jcctivcs - idcntify target audience y i z e a media stratcgy I

(2.) Identify and organizc a I'oll; ~ncdia comtnittcc (3.) Identify troupc Icadcrs 1

I I

(4.) ldcntify and dcvclop 1iicl;sa~:cs I

(5.) Translate messages inlo scripts (6.) Form a train troupcs I I

(7.) Prepare for pcrfq-mancc (8.) Plan for perl'ormanccs (9.) Hold public pcrfbr~nancc (1 0.) Monitor and evg &I I 11titc ( I I.) Continuity of group i\ctivitics ( ' ~ ' F I L ' I I I . ~ , 2004) .

'The present study owcs its st~cccss largely to the proper plimning and execution of the different stages, which corrclalc vcry highly with 'l'lieuri's prescribed stages.

To. what exte~lt will villtrgc~~:v i~~rlr.orrrc~/trt~c-~~/)r j i dk rrrtdirr /br IfIV/AIl)S irfiwn~atio~l dissent inatiorz ?

On thc appoin~cd inill-kct t h y . llic inat-kc1 was Sull (with nhoul 100 adults and 250 yo111h and children). As ~lic tlru~~lrninp st;rrtc(l. lollowcd by wrestling thc villagers suspended !heir shopping und gatlicrcd routid tllc pcrlhrmers to witness what was going

'Tliis study truly dctiio~istralcd ~ h n r rllc folk 111cdi;i iridccd 11;1s I ~ C qt~tllitics listcd above wllich resultcd i n thc k i r d of i~ridcrs~atiditi~: d' tlrc Ilicssagc ol)scwcd in tliis study. Infact scvcral of tlic 'villugcrs rcl~r~rtcd I I M I il t t r x Urc Iirst ! i l w hey citl~cr- Iicilrtl about HIVIAIDS or truly undcrs!rwd Ii~cts x l x m ~ llic disc;lsc.

Cy~rclrrsio~t This pnpcr prcscirtcd 3 rcpo~-t 01' u case s ~ d y 11i:lt succcssf'ully uscd folk niedia in

disseminating IIIVIAIISS inli~rrtia~iol~ to rural tlwcllct-s i n Ix j ju . - . Nsukka, Nigcria, Folk llicdia has b c c ~ particularly cl'l'cctivc i l l clil'lkrc~it etli~ric groups cspccinlly arwng people who do not hnvc acccss to ~nodcl-11 i'mris ol' cn~cr~airuncnl a ~ ~ r l who pri~narily do nor have a r-cading ard writing culture. 'I'l~c study I~owcvcr limirccl itscll' to i~~i~ricdiatc short-term results. Sirice tlic inlol-mation i~npartctl i s rmr: hat sliould Icad I u cliangc of attitudes ard life-styles, it will bc wortliwl~ilc to asscss (Ire Io~rg-tcr~ii cl'lkcts or this nicdia. 'I'hc rcsearc hers rccolntncnd ~liat this 111cJia bc 1-ur~ l~er dcvclopcd, docu~ncnlcd and popularized for usc with rural populatio~~ not o ~ l y I'w I IIV/All)S [)~.cvcr~tiol~ but also for other health, politics, and dcvclopriic~i~ issucs.

Appreciation 'The rescarchcrs hi gl~ly apprcciutc I I W coiltri h~ t iwis (11. Dr. 1'. UZUC~WU, Mr. G. 0. On,wusoro, Mrs. A. IJidgu. Mrs. ('. Ayogo i~nd ; ~ l l t<olii Youth laadcrship ~ a ~ n ~ s t a f f ands campers for their contriburioil lo tlw s~~cccss ol' tliis work.

ltefcrc tlccs i

Cheilr, I. (1951). "Appendix: /\,I i r ~ t r w r l r r c ~ t i o r r t o srrrrlplirr~". h Id, I [ . Kicder ( E d ) , Rescorrlr rrrefhorls in ,voc~rd-~r~!~~tior~s (4"' I<d.) NPII. YOI-k: Ilolt. Itir~~hrtrt nrlrl 1. d ' i ~ ~ f o r ~ .

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