Using music to combat AIDS and other public health issues in Malawi

Abstract

[Extract] My personal foray into health education began as a trainee with the United States Peace Corps in 1966. During a two-week field exercise with the Centro de Salud (Health Department) in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, a fellow trainee and I produced and performed a puppet show in Spanish for five- and six-year-old children who were about to receive mandatory immunizations as a prerequisite for attending school. The show's message contained simple information about what the "shots" were for, that the procedure would be brief, and that their pain would be comparable to that of a mosquito bite or less. The children were enthralled with the puppets. They really paid attention and laughed heartily at our silly, honest humor. The public health nurses were delighted. They had never before experienced children who cried significantly less during the immunization process, which was also much more efficient in terms of time and orderliness. We trainees were pumped!