Hip Hop Therapy Project
Hip Hop Meets Health Education
During the recent needs assessment exercise I conducted with children participating in the strong>Hip Hop Therapy Project (HHTP) two of the needs that emerged were:
In an effort to respond to the first expressed need, I decided to partner with Straight Talk Foundation. Straight Talk Foundation is a Ugandan health communication organization that promotes communication for social change through print, radio and face-to-face interventions for adolescents (ages 10-19) and young adults (ages 20-24). Straight Talk Foundation also operates the Gulu Youth Centre, which provides free tests and treatment for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD), counseling services, and health information materials for young people.
Straight Talk Foundation has agreed to provide space at the Gulu Youth Centre for breakdance classes to take place. This will help to expand the size of the Hip Hop Therapy Project as well as increase direct access to sexual and reproductive health education and services for the young people participating in the project.
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Why Clothes are More Important than Food
Talking to the children during a group discussion
I strongly believe that any time you enter a community with the goal of “helping”, you should work closely with that community in determining what issues need to be addressed and how to address them.
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Our First Hip Hop Workshop
Since my return to Uganda, the children participating in the Hip Hop Therapy Project have been requesting that teachers from our partner organization, Breakdance Project Uganda! (BPU), come to Gulu again to teach them new dance moves and Hip Hop beats.
Two weeks ago, I used some of the money I received from Fulbright and mtvU to organize a Hip Hop workshop for the kids in the project. I got four teachers from BPU to come to Gulu for 3 three days to teach the kids new dance routines and Hip Hop beats using traditional instruments.
One of the teachers, a 14-year old named Eric, had never been to Gulu but had heard a lot about it from others at BPU and was really excited about going. The other three3 teachers, Phillip, Arafat, and Alex, had been to Gulu before to teach and couldn’t wait to see the kids again.
BPU Teachers: Arafat, Phillip, Eric and Alex
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WE CAN ALL BE HIP HOP
The war in northern Uganda is the longest running war in Africa. It is characterized by brutality, mass suffering, and apathy. Despite the scale and horrific nature of this conflict, you rarely hear about it in the international media. Even in Uganda, there is a certain level of unawareness and apathy about what is happening in the northern part of the country. While the north has suffered massive displacement, violence, and extreme poverty, the south has enjoyed relative peace, prosperity, and development.
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