The Global Livingston Institute partners with local organizations in Uganda and Rwanda to provide free health services such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) testing, cancer screening, and family planning counseling to residents during the iKnow Concert Series and the Tour du Rwanda Concert Series.
Overview
The music festivals are now set in five separate locations, including Kabale Town, and have provided 15,500 people with free HIV testing over the past four years (iKnow Concert Series, 2018). Unfortunately, the rural villages surrounding Lake Bunyonyi, in Kabale District, are not able to attend the music festival in Kabale Town. The evaluation of twenty-one different villages on Lake Bunyonyi showed a high need for HIV
testing in the area. Through community engagement efforts, the top three barriers preventing community members from seeking HIV testing were identified. As seen in Graph 1, these barriers were transportation (38%), lack of testing (24%), and cost (18%). In addition, 95% of community members would be willing to attend the music festival in Kabale Town if transportation were provided.
Community members expressed that they would ideally want to be tested at their local health centers (34%) or at home (32%), for privacy and convenience reasons, Graph 2. When taking these observations into account, it has been determined that providing health services in the local communities would be the most effective way to reach these communities around the time of the music festival. According to our observational data displayed in Graph 3, the best locations to bring HIV tests and other health services would be to the local health centers (50%), trading centers (23%), and secondary schools (23%).
