Dancing to a healthy tune

In the past three weeks, the country has been gripped by a new phenomenon—crowds of enthusiastic fun-seekers have thronged the open grounds of their communities en masse to be part of the Moyo ndi Mpamba Music4Life Festival.

It all begins with the booming sounds of the public address system, initially instantly attracting the young ones. But as the sound gets louder and the dance gets merrier, the crowd swells to include even the most conservative among the communities.

In Mzuzu, where it all started three weeks ago at Mzuzu Upper Stadium, Moyo ndi Mpamba ambassador Lulu was joined by Northern Region’s finest acts in Tiwonge Hango, Karonga’s Lusubilo Band and Street Rat’s Body, Mind and Soul to mesmerize the masses with an afternoon of some fine music performances.

As usual, Lulu, the guitar wielding, sultry voiced musical assassin serenaded Mzuzu with his pleasant tunes and exciting dance moves.

Gracing the Mzuzu festival, the Mayor for Mzuzu City, William Mkandawire, hailed the use of big music, big artists, and the big gathering as a great way of bringing important health messages to the people, especially the youth and young adults.

Moyo ndi Mpamba Music4Life Festival is more than just music and dance. As a health campaign, it exploits the excitement and power of music as a platform for amplifying health messages to inform and inspire people to practise healthy behaviours. In their songs, the artists highlighted messages on malaria, maternal health, family planning, hygiene and good nutrition as they persuaded their fans to adhere to the ABCs of healthy lives.

And such was the momentum from the Mzuzu show that when Lilongwe fans were finally accorded a slice of the Moyo ndi Mpamba pie a week later, the intention was always to go one better.

While they are the target audience for these shows, the numbers that swelled Kamuzu Institute for Sports were exuberating and the accompanying fun thrilling.

Of course, these were free shows and the turnout was expected to be naturally high, but the numbers in Lilongwe were beyond expectation.

Despite the scorching sun, as early as noon, the ground was filled with hundreds of youth with others still trekking in. By 1pm, thousands had gathered and ready to dance the heat away.

But for some, it was a show of firsts; first time at a musical concert and a first encounter with the artists.

From Symon to Kendall to Moses Makawa to Skeffa Chimoto, they danced to their hearts’ pleasure until the show drew to a close.

But, like they say, the best is often served last.

And this was evidently the case when Zomba did finally get its turn last weekend.

On show in the old capital was evergreen gospel diva, the artist for every season and another Moyo ndi Mpamba ambassador, Ethel Kamwendo-Banda.

Weaving her voice around health related lyrics, the songstress was a sight to behold, thrilling the packed Gymkhana Club with a performance that left the audience a little out of their breath.

But, not to be outdone, Katelele Ching’oma and Mlaka Maliro were also a marvel to watch, lacing their famous hits with a message or two of good health.

And as if to enhance the reputation of using music for social campaigns, during the show in Zomba, Macro’s HIV testing stand received such an overwhelming response that they ran out of test kits! This was a smart way of not only combining entertainment with education but on the spot action as well.

And in her celebration, Zomba Mayor Joana Ntaja expressed satisfaction with the music festival.

“The massive turn-up of people to this dance is a true reflection that a lot of people are dire need of entertainment. This festival has given them quality health edutainment and I appeal to the people to utilise the messages wisely,” she said.

And summing up the Zomba show, Zone Health Supervisor for the Eastern Region McDonald Msadala described music as a tool that catches the attention of many people.

“Lyrically, Ethel is unique as she effectively tackled health issues like those of malaria, HIV and Aids, nutrition and safe motherhood, among other health problems. Through her creativity, we are hopeful that we have impacted a lot of people with messages on behavioural change,” said Msadala.

Music4Life Festival reaches the grand finale tomorrow, where all artists who participated in the regional shows will meet at the Music4Life National Festival, which will be held at the Lilongwe Community Centre Ground. The health themed songs being performed by the artists will be compiled into an album, which will be released later in the year.

Music4Life is a component of Moyo ndi Mpamba, a Ministry of Health campaign, which is being implemented through the Support for Service Delivery Integration (SSDI-Communication) with funding from United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Moyo ndi Mpamba aims at helping people connect their simple, daily choices and actions to their health and motivate them to value their life as capital (mpamba) and take action for ensuring their wellbeing. The 5-year project focuses on promotion of normative and behaviour change in six health areas including malaria, HIV and Aids, family planning, nutrition, maternal, neonatal and child health, and water, sanitation and hygiene.