BAMBELELA Arts Ensemble will today hold a community dialogue meeting on sexual reproductive rights (SRR) in Cowdray Park, Bulawayo.
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This will be the second meeting in the community and will be held in the terminus area of Cowdray Park after the first project was held in the new stands area on March 6.
The third meeting will be held in the Hawkflight area on March 25. Bambelela is a full-time community theatre group. The arts group will perform drama presentations mainly focusing on the youths and family set-ups.
Bambelela arts director, Witness Tavarwisa, told Southern Eye Lifestyle that the main aim of the meetings was to educate Cowdray Park residents about SRR issues based on recent surveys, which revealed that the suburb was vulnerable.
“The survey showed that 15% of the people are involved in inter-generational affairs. These are affairs between people with more than 15-year age difference,” he said.
“Thirty percent of live births are home deliveries while there is a 60% prevalence of adolescents living with HIV.”
Tavarwisa blamed lack of information for the dire statistics.
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He said the group would use theatre as an alternative form of communication and engage the public in past-performance discussions.
“This gives the community a platform to come up with ideas and encourages them to break the silence,” he said.
“A good example is sex which is a taboo topic in our homes and society has constructed a bias where women have no voice when it comes to sexual decisions in general.”
Tavarwisa said Cowdray Park became vulnerable as a result of the high numbers of child-headed families caused by parents’ deaths and migration to foreign lands.
“This is a place with the most affordable housing structures, but which lacks basic facilities like water and power,” he said.
“The problem is that young people living in these areas fall prey to many vices as a result of their living conditions and because the traditional advice channels like aunts have since been eroded, they fall victim and suffer.”
The artiste said the meeting would be a one-stop shop centre for people to seek assistance.
“We have roped in the National Family Planning Council representatives, Population Services Zimabawe, Amnesty International and the victim-friendly unit of the police to advise residents on issues pertaining to sexual rights,” he added.
