allAfrica.com: Senegal: Pop Stars and Youth Break Taboos to Spread AIDS Message (Page 1 of 2)

Baaba Maal sings, DJ Amadi raps, Regina Diompy and Boubacar Sagna 'preach' to their peers. But they speak with one voice and one message - protect yourself, be safe and stay alive. They are the youth of Senegal and are taking the threat of AIDS very seriously. Using music, rap and discussion sessions, they jointly spread the word about HIV/AIDS and promote safe sex, or no sex, all over Senegal.

Baaba Maal is a respected and popular musician in Senegal. He is also a goodwill ambassador and youth emissary for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in his own country, other parts of Africa and all over the world. The name of his band Daande Lenol, means the Voice of the People. Maal says he uses his music to talk about the problems of young people, poverty and society. The UN capitalises on this by adapting the singer's packed worldwide concert schedule as a stage to deliver the message about HIV/AIDS.

Maal told allAfrica.com, in Senegal's second city St Louis where he was performing, that he had travelled extensively throughout the country, in Guinea and other neighbouring West African nations, talking about HIV/AIDS during his concerts. He also makes a point of going on field trips to remote villages and urban areas to familiarize himself with AIDS-related projects and programmes.

"The challenge is to make people understand," says Maal. "The important thing for me to do is to make these people understand and know what's going on. Sometimes people don't believe that HIV exists."

DJ Awadi, a rapper with Senegalese group, Positive Black Soul, based in the capital, Dakar, says, "it is really important for our generation to understand that AIDS is a real disease. A lot of people are dying, because they do not have enough communication about this disease."

He laments that perhaps the urban youth in Dakar may be aware, "but in most of the country they don't know nothing about it (AIDS). Maybe they hear about it on 1 December (World AIDS Day), they talk a bit about it and that's it. Afterwards they forget and they continue doing what they used to do," which, says DJ Awadi, is to practise unsafe sex.

The same refrain comes from Regina Diompy, a 20 year old student, and Boubacar Sagna, who is 19. Both have become youth advocates on HIV/AIDS in Louga, a northern Senegalese town, where they belong to their school's Anti-AIDS club (Club Anti-Sida du Lycee Malick Sall).

Diompy agrees that "AIDS exists. But here in Senegal, it's a bit taboo. Me, for example, if I were to contract AIDS, I wouldn't wake up one day and go trumpeting the fact around town. I know they do it in other countries, to make people aware, but here it's still taboo to talk about these things." She says she and others are trying to break the silence and shatter those myths.

Diompy, who is a Catholic in a country that is ninety percent Muslim, says young Senegalese must appreciate that they are not the same as the youth in the West and that they are brought up differently. Although they may dress like their Western counterparts, says Diompy, "we maintain our culture and traditions and respect our customs. But, unlike the Europeans, it's taboo for us to disrespect or insult our parents. Some Senegalese may dress like Europeans and try to imitate Europeans half the time, who take their boyfriends home and even start having sexual relations, but here it's different".

Chipping in with his views, Boubacar Sagna, a young Muslim, adds that what is original about Senegalese tradition is that it is "inculcated in us at an early age and stays with us. You can't just jettison your culture. Yes I may wear my baseball cap backwards, but I know my culture tells me to be faithful, respect your mother and father, say prayers, don't drink alcohol, don't just eat anything, don't dance anyhow, respect others and respect yourself. That's what my culture tells me. And I may travel outside the country and adopt other customs, but I will always keep mine."

Baaba Maal feels a sense of obligation, as a singer, to fellow Senegalese. "We play music. But we know that, as musicians, we have other roles and responsibilities, because people listen to us. One of these social responsibilities is the education of the masses. Musicians must have the role of telling the truth to people". He drums the message home, "Abstinence, fidelity and condoms."

DJ Awadi raps a similar theme in lyrical but candid words in three languages, French, Wolof and English. "We want the message to be spread all over the world, not just Senegal and Africa. We don't want to stay in a cultural ghetto. We talk about corruption, injustice in the system, politics, daily life, humour and AIDS". Awadi says Positive Black Soul chose rap, because of its impact and accessibility. "We have a lot to say about Senegal, about Africa and about the image of Africa, and rap was the perfect music for us to say all the things we had in our heads."

HIV was the topic of the last album by Positive Black Soul, with one track called Ecoute Fils (Listen Son). DJ Amadi's rap, in colloquial French and Wolof, is grim and blunt and comes in the form of a letter. It says: "Wear condoms. Don't think that AIDS is for other people, it can catch you. Listen Son, the vicious virus is around. It's a serious situation. I must warn you that there's talk of death. Dozens, hundreds, thousands. You know around here, these things are taboo. Listen Son, if I've decided to write to you, it's because this very serious. One slip and you've had it. It can catch you too. It's taboo. You could have worn a condom and stuck to one partner. But you said that was for others. Don't be dumb. For five minutes of pleasure, you could mortgage the rest of your life, just to show off. I don't want to cry tomorrow. I've found one, just one, and she's a beautiful Peul. Listen Son, if I'm writing to you it's because it's serious."

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