This report was produced as part of the OneLove Campaign, a 4-year regional campaign working to reduce HIV prevalence in 9 Southern African countries by reducing multiple concurrent partnerships (MCP). Since July 2008, each episode of the Fema TV Talk Show, broadcast in Tanzania, has included a sketch with Bwana Ishi. Beginning in October 2008, the character Tuli was introduced and, since then, Bwana Ishi and Tuli have both appeared on each show. The report shares findings about youth perceptions on the Bwana Ishi and Tuli sketches to determine how the messages from the OneLove campaign are being received among the intended audience group. Femina HIP regards Fema TV Talk Show, and particularly the Bwana Ishi and Tuli sketches, as a crucial element of the Tanzanian OneLove campaign. Based on questionnaires and focus group discussions (FGDs), the study shows that the sketches have considerable impact on viewers. Femina HIP concludes from these findings that youth are sensitive to the programme's messages.

The FGDs revealed that young Tanzanians are aware of the entertainment element in the sketches, but they do not watch Bwana Ishi and Tuli only to be entertained. Rather, they watch the sketches because they focus on controversial but relevant topics and provide youth with options and solutions to problems they face in their everyday lives. However, the FG participants also expressed some critique; for example, they commented that they would like the sketches to have more realism.

In an effort to determine the cultural and religious impact of the vignettes, the FGDs explored norms of right and wrong in the eyes of the young viewers. Due to time limits, this discussion was confined to sexual taboos. FGDs showed that open discussions and debates around sexual practices are culturally seen as taboos. The study found that sexual behaviours that are deemed taboo include masturbation, as well as open talk about sexuality and condom use. Contrary to this, the FG participants have a positive view on condoms and try to use them in their lives as promoted in the sketches.

The respondents’ views on whether the sketches are culturally offensive correlate with gender. 20% of the female respondents feel that the sketches are culturally offensive. In determining whether youth are comfortable watching the vignettes with their parents, the study reports that the majority (93%) of the respondents watch the vignette at home where family members share a single TV set. Writers argue that this suggests that parents and guardians acknowledge Femina HIP’s efforts to address youth issues. Nevertheless, according to the study, male respondents are more comfortable watching and discussing the sketches with their parents than female respondents.

The study also found that viewers who watch the sketches weekly appreciate the sketches and seem to identify with the characters because the problems and dilemmas that the characters have to deal with are relevant to them and reflect their reality. However, the study also had a number of limitations: it excluded parents and only 40 youth from Dar es Salaam participated in the focus groups. According to the report, the study thus reflects the views of urban youth, and researchers believe it is likely that rural youth could have different perceptions of the sketches.

According to this report, the study provides valuable information when it comes to how gender, school status, and religion affect perceptions of the sketches. The study also confirms that there is a clash between the norms and values of young Tanzanians on one side and their parents’ generations on the other.

Finally, the study suggests that the Bwana Ishi and Tuli sketches stimulate public discourse and debate around MCP and gender, culture, and norms. The sketches are widely appreciated among youth viewers and represent a valuable source of information about sensitive issues that they otherwise find difficult to assess.

The study makes the following recommendations:

• Bwana Ishi and Tuli are very popular characters. The vignette production should continue and the characters would be a good choice for the upcoming OneLove drama production.
• The findings of the feedback study could benefit from including rural youth and gatekeepers.
• The producers should consider the possibility of moving the characters out of the studio and into a "real life" setting.
• The vignette’s script writers could benefit from working with gate keepers.
• The producers should consider prolonging the sketches in order to support more elaborate discussions.

Femina HIP website on November 06 2009.