Jabulile tells the story of an orphan girl, who loses her life to the dreaded HIV/AIDS scourge
through no fault of hers. The existence of orphans in Africa is a sad reality that must be acknowledged. It is a direct result
of the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is ravaging the continent. Presently, orphans are exposed to untold hardships and people who
should be helping are rather exploiting them. Some are victims of child labor, some are being used as sex slaves, and others
have become vagrants, contributing to the increasing crime rate in the society. As revealed in this play, jealousy, greed
and avarice also contribute to the ill treatment of orphans. Without love, orphans would always be cast adrift on the ocean
of life to sink or swim as best they can.
FOLUKE OGUNLEYE, PHD, teaches Dramatic Literature at the University of Swaziland. For many years, she lectured at the Department of Dramatic
Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. She has earned several honors, fellowships and grants, which include the
Ford Foundation sponsored fellowship award for the African Humanities Institute at the University of Ghana, Legon and Northwestern
University, Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.
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