 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Acting Responsibly
Watch this Video
| Windows Media |
  |
| QuickTime | |
| MPEG |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|||
 |
Awareness seems to be a key component to curbing the spread of HIV and AIDS. It's a difficult task in a country like South Africa, where the culture doesn't talk openly about sex or the deadly disease. A United Methodist minister has found a way to reach people in the remote regions through a form of entertainment. | ||
 |
|||
 |
New Items | Additional Stories | UMTV Brief | Archives | ||
WITH THE SUN AS A SPOTLIGHT, THIS IS ABOUT AS FAR AS YOU CAN GET FROM BROADWAY. BUT THE TROUPE OF ACTORS IN A VILLAGE IN MALAWI, EAST AFRICA, IS ABOUT TO PRESENT THE ULTIMATE LIFE-AND-DEATH DRAMA … ABOUT AIDS.
Daniel Mhone: "Rural communities have no entertainment, so these act as part of entertainment, and that’s why they come."
UNITED METHODIST MINISTER DANIEL MHONE CO-WROTE THE PLAY IN AN EFFORT TO REACH PEOPLE IN A CULTURE THAT DOESN’T OPENLY DISCUSS THE DISEASE.
Mhone: "It's not a church service, as it were, where people would have negative attitudes: ‘Well, I don't belong to this church so I cannot attend.’ But a play is a play."
THE PLAY BRINGS AIDS, KNOWN IN MALAWI AS EDZI, TO THE FOREFRONT IN A TIME WHEN MORE THAN 1 MILLION MALAWIANS ARE NOW LIVING WITH THE HIV VIRUS. THE UNITED NATIONS SAYS THE LIFE EXPECTANCY FOR A BABY BORN HERE TODAY IS 36 YEARS OLD.
THIS PLAY, CALLED “THE PRODIGAL SON,” SHOWS HOW MULTIPLE PARTNERS -- IN THIS CASE, PROSTITUTES -- HAVE LED TO THOSE DEADLY NUMBERS.
Mhone: "As a church, we see it as our responsibility to help them out so that they are able to accept … accept it and see a way forward. And see that there is hope. "
WHILE SOME BROADWAY PRODUCERS MAY LOOK FOR BIG BOX OFFICE TURNOUT, DANIEL MHONE KNOWS HIS PRODUCTION IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE REAL LIFE-AND-DEATH DRAMA OF AIDS IN AFRICA.
Acting Responsibly Tag:
PASTOR MHONE SAYS HE HAS SEEN THE PLAY WORK TO ENCOURAGE PREVENTION AND COMPASSION. IT COMES AT A CRITICAL TIME. IT'S ESTIMATED THAT NEARLY ONE THIRD OF THE MALAWIAN WORK FORCE IS INFECTED.