Article Excerpt About A South African Song About Malaria For Pre-School Children

Edited by Azizi Powqell

This pancocojams post presents an article excerpt published in 2018 about a health based project to compose and teach a song about Malaria to pre-school South African children.

The content of this post is presented for health educational and cultural purposes.

This information may be helpful to projects throughout the world that may be gearing up to compose and teach songs about Covid-19 to young children.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who were involved in this project.

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ARTICLE EXCERPT
From https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12936-018-2320-7
Research Open Access
Published: 27 April 2018
"Using participatory risk analysis to develop a song about malaria for young children in Limpopo Province, South Africa"

Chad M. Anderson, Cheryl M. E. McCrindle, Taneshka Kruger & Fraser McNeill

"Abstract
Background
In 2015, malaria infected over 212 million people and killed over 429,000 individuals, mostly children under 5 years of age, with 90% of malaria cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim was to develop an age and culturally appropriate song for Tshivenda-speaking children under 5 years of age to decrease the risk of malaria in Limpopo Province, South Africa.

[...]

Background
Malaria killed 429,000 people in 2015, with 90% of malaria cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. A large proportion of deaths from malaria occur in children less than 5 years of age as they have not yet acquired immunity [1]. In South Africa there is a risk of malaria in the north eastern parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga Kwazulu-Natal Provinces [2]. Epidemiological factors are called disease determinants and the interaction between the agent, host and environment plays a role in the likelihood of disease occurring [3]. This interaction is often called the “epidemiological triad”

[...]

A risk based approach is considered appropriate for prevention and management of vector borne diseases [10]. The risk of contracting malaria in South Africa can be significantly reduced by preventing mosquito bites, even in low risk areas [2, 7]. Participatory risk analysis can be used to reduce the risk of disease using three phases: magnitude and frequency of disease exposure can be estimated using risk assessment, mitigation strategies can be developed and the risk reduced by appropriate risk communication

[...]

Early childhood programmes aim at instilling life-long learning in children using conceptual and cognitive learning strategies [13]. According to Piaget’s theory of early childhood development, during the pre-operational phase (2–7 years of age), young children begin to use language, memory and imagination [14]. In both European and African culture, this is the time when grandmothers use traditional nursery rhymes and songs to convey information to young children [15]. In South Africa, children are carried on their mother’s backs until about 2 years of age, then they are able to run about and it is at that stage that caregivers (like mothers, older sisters, aunts or pre-school teachers) start to teach them life skills. Young children like these, who are at risk of malaria, are pre-literate, but communication can be facilitated through the medium of songs and dance to enhance learning [13, 16]. Music and song are used in advertising to significantly increase recall and comprehension of a product with songs or “jingles” specifically targeted at the audience likely to purchase that product [17]. Musical interventions have previously been used to prevent or manage disease through promoting behaviour change in adolescents and adults, but no examples were found for young children [18, 19]. Examples in Africa include HIV/AIDS peer group education amongst young women, songs on preventing Ebola, as well as a song for stamping out malaria [20,21,22]. It appears, that there is a gap in published knowledge about children less than five being a target audience for risk communication strategies and this may be a new way to improve public health interventions aimed at reducing malaria. The aim of this study was to identify disease determinants appropriate to reducing the risk of malaria in young Tshivenda speaking children in Limpopo and use these as lyrics in an age and culture appropriate song.

[...]


Procedure
The study was based mainly on qualitative methods, applicable to participatory action research and risk analysis [11, 12]. Literature was reviewed using a document search to identify determinants of malaria in children less than 5 years of age, that could be used to reduce the risk of malaria in the study area. These determinants were used to develop the lyrics for an age and culturally appropriate song in the Tshivenda language. The music was conceptualized during a participatory workshop with four Venda musicians and a Venda cultural expert (who is also a recording musician) in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

[...]

The lyrics were initially written in English for evaluation by the experts, then translated into Tshivenda for evaluation and discussion with two focus groups in the study area.

Focus groups are considered very useful for obtaining subjective opinions from key stakeholders [25]. The first focus group (n = 7) were all female caregivers and included Tshivenda speaking village mothers, grandmothers and pre-school teachers in the study area. The second focus group (n = 5), was comprised of malaria management and spray-control personnel, working for the Limpopo Province malaria control programme (MCP). These were all Tshivenda speaking men, with knowledge about malaria prevention at community level in the study area. Music and lyrics were changed in line with feedback from both focus groups as well as the expert opinion surveys.

[...]

Results

[...]

Following this, it was decided to add verses about bed nets and symptoms to the song lyrics. The musician asked the advice of the village women in the first focus group, on how best to include these ideas in the lyrics. The women suggested Tshivenda words that small children would understand easily and that made sense. They also sang them, to show the musician how to incorporate them in the rhythm and beat of the traditional music. This was truly a participatory research approach, as women in the study area are adept at improvising songs about village life and the young musician grew up in the same area.

The first focus group agreed unanimously with the words of the song, after he had changed them. All participants agreed that the words were no longer ‘complex’ or ‘deep’ Tshivenda terms; and they liked the repetition of the first and last lyric. It was felt that even if the children might not learn all of the lyrics initially, they would understand and sing along with those being repeated throughout the song. When asked if the song was age and culture appropriate, two members of the first focus group commented:

Caregiver 1 (a mother) said, “Yes! It is! And I think that all children will be able to learn it fast.”

Pre-school teacher 1 said, “Well Yes. The repetition is important I think.” “This is going to make children learn faster like she said, and I like how it connects mosquitoes to malaria.”

During the song improvisation, those from the first focus group also suggested adding motions and actions to the lyrics. They thought children would learn better, if actions were attached to some of the words. Caregiver 4, who was a pre-school teacher, even suggested:

“Umm…what if this were paired with a game?”

The possibility of a game about malaria, attached to the song, had also been brought up by one of the experts from the early childhood education sector consulted during the opinion surveys.
[…]

On returning from Thohoyandou, the group of musicians and the Venda cultural expert, convened in a recording studio in downtown Pretoria and reworked the changes to the lyrical content. The Zwidade rhythm was programmed into a computer, using recording software, and an appropriate tempo was set accordingly. The repetitive structure at the start and end of each verse was kept, but it was decided that for maximum impact and potential participation for children who might not remember all the lyrics, the final line of each verse (ndi na malaria!—I have malaria!) should include a multitude of voices, giving the aural impression of a sing-along, with loud hand-clapping. The final song is included as a sound byte (Additional file 1). In the Tshivenda language, a singular mosquito is lunyunyu. In the plural, this becomes vhunyunyu

The final lyrics of the malaria song were:

(The English version was translated verbatim from Tshivenda)

Verse 1

Nne ndi lunyunyu,:
I am a mosquito

Nne ndi a luma,:
I bite

Athi funi vhathu,:
I don’t like people

Ndi na Malaria! :
I have malaria!

Verse 2

Nne ndi lunyunyu, :
I am a mosquito

Ndi da na malwadze, :
I come with diseases

Thoho iya rema, :
I gave you a headache

Ndi na Malaria!:
I have malaria!

Verse 3

Nne ndi lunyunyu, :
I am a mosquito

Ndi da na malwadze :
I come with diseases

Dzungu na mufhiso :
Dizziness and fever

Ndi na Malaria! :
I have malaria!

Verse 4

Nne ndi lunyunyu, :
I am a mosquito

Madini o imaho, :
I live in still water

A tevhuleni kule :
throw it far away

Ndi na Malaria! :
I have malaria!

Verse 5

Nne ndi lunyunyu,:
I am a mosquito

Duvha li tshi kovhela :
at sunset

Fukani muvhili :
cover your body

Ndi na Malaria! :
I have malaria!

Verse 6

Nne ndi lunyunyu,:
I am a mosquito

Shumisani nethe, :
use a net

Nne ndi si dzhene :
so that I can’t get in

Ndi na Malaria! :
I have malaria!

Verse 7 (×4)

Ri vhana vha Afrika :
We are the children of Africa

Ro guda luimbo :
we learned this song

Ro pandela vhunyunyu :
we chased away the mosquitos

Ha Malaria! :
Mosquitos with malaria!

All the above were then repeated.

[...]

The population at risk in the current study was children under the age of 5 years. In the study area, risk communication to this population was mediated through adult caregivers. However, this study proposes that young children can also be empowered to protect themselves, using knowledge gained through a song. Similar to life skills gained through nursery rhymes, the song encourages early learning about the dangers of being bitten by mosquitoes, the use of bed nets and fans and the signs of malaria. It is also recommended, in line with UNICEF suggestions for communicating with young children [33], that the song be accompanied by movements and dancing; or a game where one child dressed as a mosquito chases others, who, if caught, lie down and pretend to be sick. Both of these additions were suggested by preschool teachers during the focus group discussions with care-givers. Early childhood education is based on the theory that life skills learned by children under 7 years of age remain and are passed on in turn to their own children when they are adults. This song could be a partial solution to the lack of knowledge about malaria in rural communities highlighted in several publications. It is recommended that participatory risk analysis methods described in this study, could also be used to develop songs with specific messages about malaria prevention, appropriate to language, culture and age of young children in other areas where malaria is endemic.

Conclusions
It is concluded that a culturally and age appropriate song to help children under the age of 5 years old has been created and accepted by selected representatives of the Tshivenda-speaking community and malaria experts in the study area. All of the determinants were agreed upon and that the use of these determinants could bring behavioural changes to the young children. The complete song is now ready to be made into a video. Further studies to measure the effectiveness of the song are recommended.”...
-snip-
Unfortunately, I haven't found this song on YouTube. If you know it, please share any information about this song and about a video of this song. Thanks!

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