The Sankofa Center for African Dance & Culture, a non-profit organization based in California, and its sister N.G.O. in Ghana have teamed up to educate Ghanaian youths about HIV/AIDs through the use of traditional dance-dramas. Our volunteer program brings people together from various parts of the African Diaspora from around the globe to collaborate with our Ghanaian brothers & sisters in order to educate youths about HIV/AIDS through African dance & drama.

Thanks to OneCedi Travel (www.onecedi.com), our organization has been able to direct and accomodate the travel plans of a multitude of proactive Africans throughout the world to Ghana for the implementation of our important outreach. Please visit there website to arrange your travel plans for our volunteer program.

THE MEANING OF "SANKOFA":

Since the beginning of time Africans have used song, dance, and drama to communicate their triumphs, obstacles, and important lessons to pass on to future generations. Sankofa, literally meaning "go back and get it", allows us to return to our past in order to correct current problems. This calls for our organization to use an ancient form of communication through African dance & drama to educate youths about HIV/AIDS in the present. We are in a sense, going back to recapture the health, and hope, of our future- Ghana's youth.

OUR DANCE-DRAMA OUTREACH:

Now in it's third year, the Sankofa Center for African Dance & Culture (S.C.A.D.C.) maintains an active volunteer program in which volunteers with a background in HIV/AIDS education & various artistic skills visit Ghana on one- through eight-week long programs throughout the year in the implementation of our HIV/AIDS dance-drama tour to 1) Accurately educate youths about HIV/AIDS , 2) To provide an artistic forum for exploring the social components of HIV/AIDS transmissions. Through dance & drama we explore how factors like poverty, expected roles of women & men & how they relate to sex, lack of access to testing, treatment of HIV/AIDS & health services, and how this impacts one's chance of being infected with HIV/AIDS. We aim to reduce stigma, fear, misconceptions, and foster communication within sexual relationships.

PEER EDUCATION PROGRAM:

Ghanaian youths participating in our P.E.P. have free access to resources such as in-depth epidemiology of HIV as well as forums exploring and combating the social components of HIV/AIDS transmission in Ghanaian society mentioned previously. These week-long programs prepare cohorts of local youths to further educate and promote HIV/AIDS prevention initiatives in their respective communities. Supplies such as condoms, safer sex print materials, and referrals to area medical resources supporting our mission are also provided.

Partnering with clinics such as the West African AIDS Foundation allows local youths to merge prevention with actual services for care for their communities, merging education with medical resources; thus, providing hope for people living with HIV/AIDS ( PLWA), while providing incentive for the continued quest for healthy living among the non-infected.

WAYS YOU CAN HELP!

Volunteer your time, energy, and social resources while in Ghana, please contact!

James Nii Afrah Sackey
Director
Sankofa Center for African Dance & Culture ( Ghana )
P.O BOX 600 Accra, Ghana West Africa
Tel: 011-233-244-05-83-76 jamessackey@hotmail.com

TO APPLY TO OUR VOLUNTEER PROGRAM VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.SANKOFACENTER.ORG