Social mobilization in Uganda through plays, music

"They come here to get entertained, but they leave with information," said Mr. Albino. "It is important for people to hear these messages from their friends. They internalize the information and are convinced. They figure 'how can a friend do anything bad to us?'. We partner with the leaders in a certain village who have the ear of the people - religious leaders, tribal chief, teachers, drummers, clan leaders," he said. "It is important to speak their language."

One mother who had viewed a play with her children said "What I have learned today can heal children - witch doctors cannot. Red Cross is a helping organization - the volunteers have taken initiative, going house to house. They are bringing vaccinations to my village that helps children so much."

She continued "I am bringing my child for immunization because I want the health to be very good. I had a child die before. Measles scares me. It removes the top skin. It can cause blindness, high temperatures. My child lost his appetite and had trouble breathing."

Another mother in the Soroti slum area said "I feel so bad I could not do anything for my baby. The baby started with a temperature and I thought it was malaria. It had rashes, bleeding from the nose and mouth, diarrhea." She finally took the baby to a clinic where it died shortly afterward. "Now I want all my children vaccinated," she said. "I wish every day I could be with Red Cross. I am so excited."

The plays put on in each village differ slightly in costumes, songs and presentation. The message, however, is the same. One song expressed 'Children are worth protecting. We fought polio and you don't see polio here. We must fight measles the same.'

One schoolgirl in Pallisa district would look sternly at the crowd as she sang the measles song, shaking her finger at the crowd during the verse, "take your child for immunization."

"Every home has seen measles," said Anukur. "The Measles Initiative is a humanitarian group of organizations and we must mobilize the power of humanity to improve the lives of the vulnerable."

Volunteers make every effort to reach each child
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Myths, folktales and anti-vaccine sentiment about measles
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Hear the lyrics to one of the many 'measles songs'
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