United Nations in Uzbekistan

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Y-PEER youth volunteer organisation, and the United Nations Volunteers’ Mini-grants project have created an educative theatre performance, designed to effectively spread messages regarding drug abuse, forced marriages and HIV/AIDS among Uzbekistan’s youth. This ingenious production had its foundations in the talents and skills of volunteers, with volunteers from the NGO Tengdoshim, the Youth Initiative Center and the Y-PEER network comprising the cast and tech-crew. Premiering in Samarkand on International Volunteers day (December the 5^th), in association with World AIDS Day on December the 1^st, the booked-out theatre and the positive audience reactions was testimony to the play’s effectiveness.

The play, named ‘Kaleidoscope’ because of its portrayal of how the addressed issue can have a disruptive effect on otherwise peaceful and ordered communities, was the brainchild of playwright and Y-PEER fellow at UNFPA Lola Aminova. Having written and produced a similar play last year with resounding success, Ms. Aminova considers theatre to be one of the best ways of addressing misunderstood topics like drug abuse, HIV/AIDS and forced marriage. “The play allows people to see social issues from a new perspective; the problems that they face each day but may be ignoring,” she said. “When they see a problem from a third perspective, they may actually start to think about the problem. The moment they start to think this way is the moment that they can begin to solve the problem. The play is about making steps towards solving important issues.”

In order to achieve this goal of raising awareness, the play has been designed and conducted in an educative manner. Throughout the performance the familiar characters would often break the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience, allowing people to voice their opinions on the matters addressed. The performance also included a unique interactive session following its climatic moment, when a young drug addict is forced into marriage and then discovers he is HIV positive. This diagnosis causes the young couple to be shunned by their community. During the question and answer session the audience posed questions to individual characters, giving the performers an ideal opportunity to detail the messages discussed in the play and to ensure that positive ideas are passed onto those present. The down-to-earth performance involved recognisable personas, including gossiping grandmothers, rebellious children and a wise and pensive Mahalla leader, allowing the audience to easily relate to the situations unfolding on stage. Following the first act and the interactive session, a final scene depicted a doctor visiting the play’s mahalla and offered insight into the true nature of HIV/AIDS and drug addiction, and into the importance of acceptance and tolerance.

Kaleidoscope’s director and manager Farangiza Razakova has described the educative theatre technique to be one of the most effective and culturally-friendly ways of addressing socially-taboo issues like HIV and AIDS: “I’ve used many different methods to spread information regarding youth issues, including seminars, trainings and outreach work, but theatre remains the most interesting and effective method of reaching a young audience,” Ms. Razakova explained. “The benefit of theatre is that it is interactive. It is interesting for youth because instead of just providing information, you can involve the participants in the action. That is why theatre is such an effective way of transferring knowledge.” The play was attended by a variety of people from children to grandparents, and by individuals from all walks of life, ensuring that the performance’s message reached as many people as possible.

“This play is especially important because of the issue of HIV,” she said. “HIV is a growing problem in the Samarkand region, with new infections occurring frequently throughout the area. This means it is more important than ever that young people are able to live healthy lifestyles, and that these lifestyles can be improved through information, knowledge and good ideas.”

Ms. Razakova’s perspectives regarding the performance’s importance were also shared by the participating actors and actresses. Timur Kamalov, who performs the role of the respected and mediating Mahalla leader, said that the play had a crucial message which can have a directly beneficial effect on its audience. “The purpose of this play is to convey to the people in attendance that individuals living with HIV are a part of our lives.” He said “It should be remembered that the issues discussed in the play are not problems that happen outside the communities and social groups of the audience members. The situations in this play are based on real life.”

“If people are informed, then they can work to prevent certain things. A good example is the problem of stigmatisation against people living with HIV, which was addressed in the play. When the audience leaves the theatre and thinks about what they saw, they will consider how certain individuals are treated in their communities and they will begin to question such actions. They may realise that they have been acting in the same way, and therefore they might make a positive change in their life and the lives of their neighbours.”

It was evident during the performance’s premier on the 5^th of December that the hopes of Ms. Aminova, Ms. Farangiza and Mr. Kamalov had come to fruition. The attending children, adults, parents and grandparents were actively discussing the topics addressed as they left the theatre, and it is hoped that they will spread the messages they have learnt to their friends and neighbours. Following its success in Samarkand, the play is to be performed twice a month at rural schools and colleges within the Samarkand oblast, in order to make sure that its positive, influential messages reach as many eyes and ears as possible. Ms. Aminova and Ms. Razakova feel certain that their play will reach a wide audience, and that its crucial messages will be heard.

“This play works to achieve three things: to have people, especially young people, think before using drugs, to have parents think more carefully about pushing their children into marriage, and that people with HIV are not aliens, that they are here around us and that it is not right to exclude them,” Ms Aminova said. “Most importantly, this play is about acceptance.”