Spacing Our Children

The show is in the Bariba language. The performances, and the activities that accompany it, aim to lay a foundation for change that will lead to healthier communities.

The project uses village centres, usually a clearing or space under a tree near the village market, to hang stage curtains, place their backdrop, and set up their microphones. The storyteller and musician then circle the village playing drums to attract the villagers' attention. Groups of people then form a circle around the improvised stage. The actors then emerge from the curtains. The storyteller quiets the crowd and begins to spin the tale of a longtime rivalry between two brothers. One is a mild-mannered, well-respected man who uses condoms and has a small, healthy family. His brother Sacca has a dozen children and still refuses to consider contraception because he fears his wife will be unfaithful. His large family has fallen into poverty, disarray, and ill health.

The story is interactive, as Sacca's brother and the other characters enlist audience members' help in poking fun at Sacca's obstinate ways, which have contributed to his wife's poor health and their failing financial situation. After much public deriding and a few words of advice from the village chief, Sacca comes to value the concept of birth spacing and promises to visit the health centre with his wife.

The project staff trained actors to administer oral surveys before and after the play and to hold short discussion groups with the villagers after each performance. The discussion groups are segmented by age and sex. They are used to encourage villagers to freely exchange stories with their peers, ask questions, and clarify what they learned. The project also broadcasts radio shows to reinforce the messages of the play. It also distributes printed educational materials and arranges home visits by community health volunteers who had been trained by the project partners in Benin.

The troupe translated the play from Bariba, the majority language, into French to reach more villages. The project has also worked with several other local theatre troupes to develop plays on HIV, malaria, and maternal and child health themes.

Family Planning.

Organisers say more than 65,000 people in 232 villages in northern Benin have attended the play. They believe that theatre is an effective way to address health issues and to change social norms because it reaches whole communities at once. "In villages with no access to television or cinema, and in which many people cannot read, it's relatively easy to gather a large crowd - often up to 300 people - for a performance. The lack of competing media makes the play even more efficient at spreading ideas and getting youth, parents, and elders thinking and talking about the same thing."

Before creating Spacing Our Children, organisers assessed the knowledge and attitudes of villagers. This research suggested that men, who control the purse strings, often oppose their wives' wishes to use contraception. As a result, the play emphasises the husband's responsibility in family planning and the economic benefits of well-spaced, healthy children.