All of Theatre for a Change’s projects have a sexual health dimension. Even those placing emphasis on gender equality and female empowerment are intrinsically linked to sex. How can women be empowered without the ability to negotiate contraception or control their family planning? The HIV prevalence rate in Ghana is currently 1.37%: an all-time low. Compare that to other African countries and it is an impressive figure. Sadly the marked improvement has meant that funders are losing interest in Ghana over the issue of sexual and reproductive health and the focus has turned to entrepeneurship and enterprise: Ghana is a middle-income country, after all.
The importance of this project is encapsulated in the words of the Project Manager, Jonas, in his introductory speech: ‘to protect your sexual health is to protect your dreams’. HIV prevalence has improved across general populations in Ghana but unprotected sex is still happening everywhere and it is preventing young people from reaching their full potential.
Before I came to Ghana I was living in ignorance of the intrinsic link between empowerment and sexual health. I am sure it is no coincidence that I have been out of school for nearly nine years and- to the best of my knowledge- my year is yet to produce its first child. As I mentioned in a former blog, my school was famed for producing career-minded women. I have no doubt my peers are militant about their sexual health and, when the time comes, they will choose when and how they would like to have children. No Yawa is doing an incredible job of encouraging the young women and men of Ghana to do the same. But more initiatives of this nature are needed. Funders need to realise that ploughing money into enterprise is fruitless without the basic facts of life taken care of. There were 750,000 teenage pregnancies in Ghana last year; around 37% of all pregnancies in the country are unplanned.
Jonas asks the young audience at the start of each activation: ‘Do you have dreams?’.
‘YES!’ roars back the reply.
‘Are you lawyers?’
‘YES!’
‘Are you doctors?’
‘YES!’
‘Are you teachers?’
‘YES!’
This exchange is incredible to hear. It is echoed everywhere we go. 'To protect your sexual health is to protect your dreams'. We must protect their dreams.