One Love HIV/AIDS Awareness Theater

According to the organisers, One Love is based upon the philosophy that HIV/AIDS awareness messages must be delivered through relevant, accessible and impressionable media. In short, performances must be memorable experiences in order to get the message across. As a result, over the years One Love has developed a style that they describe as “theatrical gymnastics” which combines HIV/AIDS-based drama with circus, dance and gymnastics. In some cases music and drums are also incorporated.

The organisers believe that if audiences can relate to the performances, the awareness messages incorporated in the show are shared as opposed to dictated. In other words, effective awareness education must be ground-up and encourage community dialogue.

One Love’s cast is comprised of children and youth from all walks of life in Ethiopia.
According to the organisers, aside from delivering crucial awareness messages, One Love performances also serve as an opportunity for youth to take an active and creative role in their community, see their country and earn a small income. Cast members earn a per-diem for performances and are therefore effectively offered part-time employment in a place where such opportunities for youth are scarce.

One Love performance venues include the stadiums, theatres, marketplaces and the streets of Ethiopia. Performances occur in Awassa (One Love’s home) as well as in villages, towns and cities throughout the country.

In addition to performing, One Love holds three trainings per week. Trainings are facilitated by the One Love director, senior cast members and, on occasion, visiting artists. Trainings incorporate physical conditioning and show rehearsal as well as discussions about the HIV/AIDS awareness messages included in performances. One Love also collaborates with both local and international NGOs on developing certain shows.

One Love also has a blog which offers photographs and information on the team members and past and planned performances.

One Love been involved in a variety of activities, often working in collaboration with other organisations. With the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), One Love performed in Bilate Soldier Camp (about 170km from Awassa) where they performed an HIV/AIDS show for 700 soldiers. The show was adapted to the soldier’s context and included issues around conflict resolution.

Celebrating “The Day of the African Child” One Love Theater performed to an audience of over 800 kids. Focusing mainly on the many challenges facing Ethiopian children, the show was a collaborative effort between NGOs and government organisations.

The One Love Theater also developed an awareness theatre about drug abuse and female circumcision. In 2005, senior members of the circus helped Sudanese youth in the United Nations Sherkole Refugee Camp develop the Land-Mine Awareness Theater fulfilling one of its most important goals - to teach other youth to use the arts to educate and empower their communities.

In June of 2006 the Circus received national attention by performing at the National Theater in Addis Ababa with the Dutch Hip Hop Company, ISH. Later that month, for the Green Awassa Conference which was hosted by the Awassa Children's Center, the Circus performed the "Green Show" addressing deforestation.

HIV/AIDS, Children, Youth, Education.

The Circus concept began in 1998, when then street kids started practicing and performing gymnastics by Lake Awassa, calling themselves Debut Negat (Amharic for southern dawn). German doctor Hermann Hunzinger, who began supporting the kids, asked his American friend and theater director David Schein to get involved. Inspired by how the arts were being used to combat AIDS in Uganda and South Africa, Schein lined up support from local HIV/AIDS agencies and worked with the youth to create the HIV prevention show which distributes condoms at the end of the show. ..

The Awassa Children's Project operates two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Awassa. The Awassa Youth Campus was formed in 2006 and provides a home for the AIDS Education Circus (One Love Theater), an aikido Peace Dojo, children's workshops (sports, art, music and dance), as well as a library. It also runs the Awassa Children's Center, which provides housing, education, vocational training, healthcare and support to AIDS orphans. The Children's Center hosts the Green Awassa Atalier where experts from all over the world discuss reforestation and sustainable fuels usage in the Awassa Lake Basin. The Center acquired a new vocational training building and was given land by the town designated for children's housing.

Awassa Children’s Project, through its NGOs aims to continue culturally responsible relief work aimed at assisting children primarily orphaned by AIDS, educating Ethiopians about AIDS prevention, and offering a youth-based approach towards the resolution of serious issues facing Ethiopia.