Inter Press Service - October 20, 2000
Ramyata Limbu

The veteran stage actor is giving finishing touches to the script of a street play that his group will perform in several Nepali villages over the next two months. The aim is to tell the largely illiterate folk in this mainly rural nation, that they are not as safe from HIV-infection as they think, and how to avoid this.

His group 'Arohan', a popular Nepali theatre troupe, is one of several commissioned by the Nepal office of the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) to perform a series of AIDS education street dramas in Nepal's villages.

The first plays will be staged on Oct. 24 and are timed with this year's worldwide observance of the U.N.'s International Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP). The performances will continue till World AIDS Day marked every year on Dec.1.

"This effort of UNDP Nepal is targeted to make policy makers prioritise HIV/AIDs on the national agenda. We are keen that the threat is tackled in time as every effort made on poverty eradication is negated by the AIDS threat," says a UNDP official here.

According to UNDP, the AIDS virus is worsening poverty in poor nations and undoing earlier development gains by draining away resources from education, farm growth and other efforts to raise living standards.

Nepal is not immune, say health experts. There are an estimated 32,000 HIV-infected people in the country. Experts say poor nations like Nepal, where the bulk of people live on less than one U.S. dollar a day, must be specially alert about AIDS.

Indeed, poverty is helping spread the AIDS virus in the country, say experts.

They refer to the large-scale trafficking of Nepali village women to brothels in big cities across the border in India.

One of the nine Nepal districts chosen for staging the street plays is largely rural Makwanpur, which is close to the India-Nepal border. Many young women from the villages of Makwanpur are known to be lured across the border with false promises of jobs in India.

Here, the local 'Taranga' cultural troupe will perform 'Junge Hawaldaar', a one-hour street drama, which uses comedy to convey its serious message.

"Our play provides entertainment, evokes laughter. We have to ensure that the spectators enjoy the show. At the same time, we convey information and messages that will make people aware, that will make them think," says Taranga chief, Ujwal Sharma.

Enlivened by improvisations, the play shows how young and unsuspecting village girls are lured by organised bands of sex traffickers with offers of jobs in India's big cities.

Taranga has been staging the play for more than a year. Its main protagonist is a policeman. It also depicts the tough brothel life and the threat of HIV/AIDS that commercial sex workers are exposed to.

Nepal is also vulnerable to the risk of HIV infection with an increasing number of poorly educated young village men seeking low-paid seasonal work in India's big cities, where they can come in contact with commercial sex workers.

"The problem in Nepal is one of denial. The feeling -- I'm not in this group, it (HIV) doesn't concern me," says Anita Pandey, Development Communication officer, UNDP Nepal. "Everyone in any country is at risk," she asserts.

"Everything, from how it is contracted, prevention measures, myths about AIDS, counselling, the whole gamut of AIDS will be presented (by the street plays) in direct language, and repeated messages. No reading between the lines," says Pandey.

Critics of official anti-AIDS efforts accuse the Nepal government of not giving proper attention to the problem.

The government announced a 'National Strategy to Control AIDS' five years ago.

It has earmarked 1.6 million rupees (about 22,000 dollars) for the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control, (NCASC), the government body responsible for implementing the strategy.

However, this amount is barely enough to pay staff salaries, say Centre officials. The government is relying mainly on international donors. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has given 400,000 dollars to the Centre for the year 2000-2001.

The AIDS education street plays are expected to create greater awareness among those at risk and generate popular demand for the government to act.

However, the artistes admit that communicating the message will not be easy.

"The sexual connotation associated with AIDS, and the fact that it's a disease that takes years to show, the impact of which will be felt in the future rather than the immediate present, makes it difficult to portray through plays," says Pokharel.

At times, the performers have to sacrifice the artistic element to hammer home the message, he says. "But it's rewarding when people want to know more about the issue after the performance," says Pokharel, who with wife Nisha, has travelled extensively across Nepal, staging street plays on various development themes.

His Kathmandu-based troupe often uses local village performers and trains them to carry on holding the plays. "Street theatre is a powerful medium for spreading awareness. But there have to be follow-up programmes. You can't expect one performance to bring about change overnight," he says.

The performers are inspired by the success of another AIDS education play that was staged earlier by the troupe Taranga for truck drivers along Nepal's highways. 'Guruji Ra Antare' is about a truck driver and his helper, in which the former tells the latter why and how to use condoms.

"We performed it numerous times along highway settlements. It became pretty popular. Father and daughter could watch the same play without squirming with embarrassment," recalls Taranga's Sharma.

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