Edutainment and HIV/AIDS in Botswana: A Content Analytical Discourse on ‘Morwalela’ Drama Series

Abstract

The Joint United Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS Data 2017) facts states that 360, 000 people out of a population of over two million people in Botswana are affected with HIV/AIDS (including women and children), with 3,900 deaths related to AIDS alone. Despite the fact that antiretroviral medications are being distributed freely to all the people living with HIV/AIDS in Botswana, the country is still one of the countries greatly affected by HIV/AIDS in the world. This study, therefore examined the role of the drama series ‘Morwalela’ (as a complimentary development strategy), in addition to the HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and treatment strategies and campaign in Botswana. The theories underpinning this study were development media theory and framing theory. The method adopted for data gathering was content analysis, which was a qualitative method of research. Purposive sampling method (which is a non-probability sampling technique) was used for the selection of the drama series for this study. This study was conducted by examining various themes (both positive and negative), the direction of media frames, as well as other factors such as the recurring comments, and the frequency of viewership. Finding showed that over 75, 000 people worldwide had viewed the ‘Morwalela’ drama series on YouTube. Also, the theme of ‘Love’ had the highest percentage which was 13%, from 84 scenes, followed by the positive theme of ‘Family’ with 10.7%. Tolerance was the lowest with 1.2%. Infidelity was the highest negative theme with 11.9%. Furthermore, the result showed that 26.7% of the frames in the movies, out of 30 frames focused on HIV/AIDS discussions and coping mechanisms of HIV/AIDS victims. It was recommended that the government of other South African countries-like Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia should focus more on partnerships with both governmental and non-governmental organisations for curbing the danger of HIV/AIDS. Keywords: analytical discourse, Botswana, edutainment, HIV/AIDS, Morwalela drama series