Using Applied Theatre in Communicating Water Management Challenges and Solutions in African Communities

Communicating complex scientific  findings to indigenous communities has always been a challenge to researchers worldwide. How to package and disseminate vital information to communities that are essentially illiterate is a concern that is being addressed by Higher Education Institutions as well as non-governmental organisations. This is the case with water-climate action related research where findings on the effects of climate change (drought, global warming, poor water quality and in some cases water shortages) and water policies are constantly being released in book chapters and journal articles. Water management techniques, regional and national water policies and their implementation seem to be some of the central focus in this research area. The challenge most higher eduction and research centres face is how to package their findings in ways that are immedeiately accesible, culturally friendly, and easily understood by rural and poor urban communities that are most affected by inadequate water management. Applied theatre, a participatory art form that explores people's communication media in addition to accentuating cultural diversity, seems to be meeting this need in Africa. This chapter is therefore based on an experiment in using Applied theatre in packaging and disseminating water management research findings with participants of the International Water-Climate School in Mafikeng, South Africa in 2022. The chapter asserts that, a blend of indigenous African art forms and applied theatre, which in essence is participatory, can contribute in creating awareness on water management, sanitation and improved drinking water in rural and urban poor communities. The study has shown that, theatre in general and applied theatre in particular, is an effective way of communicating issues of water management challenges and solutions in African communities. Through this tool, community members, who in this case were students and teachers of the summer school and memebers of the Mafikeng community came to the understanding of the health risks involved in consuming polluted water.