Africans Using Music to Change Unsafe Sexual Practices

Bongani Tembe and Linda Bukhosini

Thanks to my friend and nurse colleague, Nonceba Lubanga, a South African nurse and human rights activist who has worked in children’s health in New York City for more than two decades, AJN editorial board member Barbara Glickstein and I were honored to have dinner at the home of Bongani Tembe and Linda Bukhosini, world-renowned vocalists. Tembe is the chief executive and artistic director of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic and Bukhosini is the CEO and managing director of the Playhouse Company in Durban. They told us about a project they developed to use music to change the sexual notions and practices of South African men, with the goal of preventing the spread of HIV and reducing sexual violence. Tembe worked with others to organize a march to a stadium, got musicians to write music that included healthier sexual messages, and handed out CDs of the music. This extraordinary couple understands the power of music in promoting health.

Diana Mason, AJN editor-in-chief-emeritus, sent the above post, the last one before her return this weekend, from Durban, South Africa, where she’s been attending the ICN conference