Preaching good hygiene with music in Kamwokya

Singer Bobi Wine performs for the crowd that gathered for the hygiene campaign in Kamwokya last week. Photos by Michael Kakumirizi.

When musician Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, was approached by Viva Con Agua to voluntarily champion their hygiene, water and sanitation campaign, he felt his Kamwokya ghetto friends should benefit first.

After staging a fundraising show in Moroto District early last week, the self-proclaimed ghetto president, in conjunction with Viva and GIZ, Welthungerhilfe, the German Embassy and Goethe-Zentrum Kampala, led a catalogue of artistes to Kamwokya grounds to create awareness about the value of having safe water and good hygiene.

According to Nobert Latim, the Viva Con Agua country director, they chose Bobi Wine, Maro, Octopizzo of Kenya, Lady Slyke, Abramz and Sylvester because their music genre resonates with their target audience – the downtrodden slum and rural dwellers.

Last Saturday, Bobi Wine stuck to his livelihood songs like Byekwaso, Dembe and Kabaaya and had breaks midway to emphasise the theme of the day – sanitation. “You don’t need government to police you into having proper hygiene. Mind your cleanness to stay safe,” he implored the audience that didn’t pay a coin to watch him.

The audience at Kamwokya, mostly urban youth, sang along with Bobi Wine in his 30-minute performance and seemed to have digested every message he emphatically sent out. Latim adds that since they begun their countrywide tours with Bobi Wine on March 22, the designated World Water Day, they have been able to mobilise rural people to live healthy even in the face of adversity.