schools4life

In Kenya, dance4life is implemented in schools in Coast and Nairobi provinces. implementing parners include; Africa Alive!, who are the National Concept Owners (NCO); Kwacha Africa, implementing partners at the Coast province and the Centre for the Study of Adolescences(CSA).

The heart of dance4life is schools4life. schools4life gives young people the opportunity to make a difference in their own lives and world. It teaches them the important life skills they need to protect themselves but more than this, it inspires them to go out there and actually do something about it, to become actively involved – an agent of change.

An agent of change is a young person who takes part in at least two of the first three schools4life activities.

Schools4life is made up of four parts: the heart connection tour (HCT); act4life, in depth life-skills programmes (skills4life), and the dance4life event.

First, the dance4life tour team travels to the participating schools to inspire youth in a funky, breathtaking and interactive way, and gets them energised and excited about taking responsibility.

In Kenya, there are two teams consisting of; peer educators, dancers, puppeteers and inspiring stories of young people living with HIV/AIDS.

After this empowering visit, students have the opportunity to learn how to take responsibility by taking part in the life-skills programme. This is an in-depth programme where they learn more about HIV/AIDS including: prevention, sexuality. drug abuse, and their rights. They also learn valuable skills about negotiation (No means No), communication and decision making, which they can to their daily lives.

The third activity- act4life -a framework within which young people are asked to act, take up responsibility and contribute to pushing back HIV and AIDS. Act4Life is about making young people realise that everyone has a role to play, including them, and that change starts with one person.

The fourth stage is the thematic dance4life event held every two years on the lat Saturday before World AIDS Day. All the agents of change are mobilized and united to from a visible platform via live satellite link. The live satellite connection is an important part of the international Dance4Life Event. It provides a unique, powerful, heart felt, goose-bump moment during which Agents of Change from all around the world are visibly united. This not only attracts the attention of the press (and political leaders), it also contributes to uniting, mobilising, empowering and inspiring the Agents of Change.

In 2008, 19 countries took part with 50,000 agents of change connected live via the satellite link.

By 2014, we aim to have at least one million young people dancing all over our planet, connected by satellite, making a powerful statement of hope. This is the climax of the Dance4Life Schools Project. A million involved young people dancing will make such a positive statement that we will attract media, politicians and the general public all over the world!