Theatre brings sex into schools

Art & Heritage

By Patrick Decloitre

Vanuatu’s very own Wan Smol Bag Theatre has broken new ground in

community education.

In a short play, it introduces sex educa tion, a subject seen as “taboo” in this island state’s primary school system.

It is certainly one of its boldest chal lenges since it was created in the early 90s - teaching schoolchildren about sex educa tion in a society where they don’t learn about the facts of life until late.

The shows take place in the capital’s primary schools, where children watch child actors tell them about their own body.

The 20-minute act is very graphic.

The actors use their bodies to reproduce the female reproductive system, and clear ly show a woman’s womb and inside organs drawn on a bed sheet.

Vanuatu’s education authorities wanted to introduce the subject in schools, but they didn’t quite know how to go about it.

“They were scared that churches or tra ditional chiefs or parents might not approve.

“But some people were brave enough to support a reproductive health awareness scheme and they asked us to come up with a play,” WSB founder and playwright Jo Dorras said.

“So we produced a script trying to avoid upsetting sexual reference.

“It’s quite direct, but it looks mainly at how the body functions, something most young girls don’t have a clue about, because at home, even if they ask, no one tells them.

“Some kids even told us they were beat en because they asked about that,” she adds.

The play depicts a teenage schoolgirl getting a note from a boy asking to meet her in the evening.

“We decided to start with a situation in primary school, a girl chased by a school boy. And the girl wonders what this boy wants,” Dorras explains.

“So the kids make the shape of fallopi an tubes and other female reproductive organs.

“They explain in simple terms what the menstruation cycle is, how it works, how a baby is formed, how it’s bom.

“Kids don’t know about pregnancy.

“We had an incredible amount of ques tions, some audiences laugh all the way through, but at other times, the kids just listen.

“Even when they laugh, they still ask questions at the end.”

The main message is “you’re too young to have sex” and “this is dangerous for your body”.

At first, Pango English primary school headmaster Eric Taso was not comfortable with the idea of having a theatre group coming to his school to talk about sex.

But after the performance, he seemed to feel better.

“First, I was a bit nervous. At the same time, I think I’m glad the kids know, this can help them.

“Teachers don’t touch that subject in classes. This is the first time it’s brought up here”, Taso said.

“So far, we’re trying to introduce books, but this is only about sex lives of animals.

“Maybe in near future, they’ll do the same with humans,” he said. ■