Maasai Warriors. Credit: Christina Lauterbach

Empuaan is a mobile organisation, taking vital education to people living in the remotest areas. We use innovative and exciting ways to get people involved, engaged and talking, and we provide forums for critical thinking and discussion that can lead to behaviour change. 

Theatre is a wonderful way to reach people with educational messages and has been used with great success in many diverse African settings. High quality, mobile theatre can have a huge impact – reaching large numbers of people, stimulating discussion and leading to life-saving behaviour changes. This impact has been seen in neighbouring Kenya where the UK registered charity Sponsored Arts for Education (SAFE) has led the way and achieved extraordinary results, including a four-fold increase in people attending voluntary counselling and testing after coming to a show. Their work with the Kenyan Maasai has been very well-received. 

In collaboration with SAFE and learning from their pioneering work, we are developing a new programme of educational theatre among the Maasai in Tanzania. The programme aims to tackle the stigma, fear and discrimination that surround HIV and AIDS, promote compassion and provide the information and open discussion that communities need if they are to protect themselves from HIV. 

Empuaan trustee Petra Massey is co-founder and artistic director of the international and highly successful theatre company Spymonkey. With over 20 years’ experience, Petra is playing a key role in the development of this exciting new project, providing expert artistic direction and working with Maasai actors to develop the skills needed to bring top class educational theatre to Maasai communities across Tanzania.