With a
national
league
and yearly
playoffs,
soccer
is the
most popular
sport and
spectator
entertainment.
Cricket
and rugby
also attract
large numbers
of spectators.
Boxing
offers
a national
trophy
in each
division,
and also
is popular.
Uganda
sends athletes
to the
world's
main sporting
events,
especially
the Olympic's,
and its
athletes
have won
medals,
mostly
in track-and-field.
For
daily
entertainment,
the radio
is the
media
of choice
for most
Ugandans.
There
are 10
radio
stations
offering
a variety
of programseducational,
plays,
news,
stories
and,
of course,
music.
Television
is also
a popular
form
of entertainment,
but since
there
are much
fewer
television
sets
per capita
than
radios,
it is
not as
important
as radio.
Television
is only
available
to affluent
families
and in
most
hotels.
Programming
from
England
and the
United
States
is used
to bolster
locally
produced
programs.
Around
Kampala
people
enjoy
going
to restaurants
and clubs
where
troupes
perform
traditional
dances.
Throughout
Uganda,
traveling
popular
theater
groups
perform
plays
with
themes
addressing
current
concerns
in politics,
social
change,
health,
and family
situations.
Popular
plays,
which
have
a long
tradition
in Uganda,
are used
for educational
purposes
as well.
In a
country
where
the adult
illiteracy
rate
is high,
plays
are an
important
means
through
which
to educate
and inform
the general
population
on HIV/AIDS
and its
prevention.
In a
country
that
suffers
from
one of
the highest
HIV/AIDS
infection
rates
in the
world,
the role
of popular
theater
in terms
of prevention
cannot
be underestimated.
For
further
reading:
Frank,
Marion.
1995. AIDS
Education
Through
Theatre:
Case
Studies
from
Uganda :
Bayreuth,
Germany:
Bayreuth
African
Studies
Series
35.