Helping them to help themselves: case study of an integrated popular theatre approach in Africa

Abstract

An outstanding problem that has haunted most development workers in Africa has been how to effectively engage rural communities who often have no access to modern technological media like newspapers, radio, television, video and film. The tendency has been for development workers to resort to top-down or blueprint development approaches that usually undermine the very purpose for which they were intended. Instead of inspiring community-driven action, such exogenous approaches tend to treat development as an event rather than a process. This article looks at an alternative development approach that has come to be called integrated popular theatre. In particular, the article focuses on a case study that demonstrates how development can be turned into a combined learning process between rural communities and outside experts. Integrated popular theatre thus marks an innovative paradigm shift in which the grassroots and development experts become partners in development.