Heap, Brian S.; Simpson, Anthony
Author Affiliation, Ana.
Phillip Sherlock Centre for the Performing Arts
'When you have AIDS, people laugh at you': A Process Drama approach to Stigma with pupils in Zambia
Date of Publication
This article describes in detail part of a pilot project conducted in Zambia by Brian Heap, a process drama practitioner and Staff Tutor in Drama at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica and Anthony Simpson a teacher and anthropologist, working in the U.K. and Zambia, to promote HIV/AIDS competence. Process drama can provide a safe space for the participants themselves to interrogate stereotypical constructions of masculinity and femininity and the sources of stigma against those living with the HIV virus or with AIDS-related conditions. At the same time, it allows researchers to monitor how HIV/AIDS campaigns are received and garner important clues as to how they might be improved. The authors argue that the lessons learnt from the pilot project have a wide application for HIV/AIDS education in Jamaica and the West Indies in general.....