CEETA Project
Project Mission
Empowering communities through Education and Arts towards eradication of HIV/AIDS and enhancement of access to human development opportunities for women and children.
Project Goal
CEETA project envisions a day when they will be rendered irrelevant by achievement of their objectives.
The Community Education and Empowerment Through Arts Project (CEETA) is a project of Congressional District Programs, Inc. – a registered 501(c) (3) public charity. It was founded by Adrienne Nightingale in early 2007; following a successful project intervention on HIV/AIDS among the Maasai community of Saikeri – Kenya (East Africa) which realized impressive results.
The project’s main strategy is the use of locally developed art (music, dance, visual art, drama etc.) in educating the community on how to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The development of and use of local art ensures the creation of ‘culture specific’ messages that a particular community identifies with. This does not only ensure sustainability of the various Community Initiatives (CIs) but also offers a local solution to a local problem. The project extends the approach to promote access to Rights and Human Development opportunities for Women and Children.
The measure of impact is based on attitude change which is signified by public pronouncements of community gate keepers and the other members on issues around HIV/AIDS, particularly stigma and cultural misconceptions about the pandemic. Voluntary counseling and testing is a major component of the program which is done in collaboration with local health departments. The number of people turning up for the anonymous testing is therefore a crucial indicator of impact.
Objectives of the Project
The project aims at achieving the following core objectives:
1- To empower communities in developing countries to be able to fight HIV/AIDS through informal Education and Art.
2- To empower communities in developing countries to promote and enhance the Rights and Human Development opportunities for Women and Children.
Geographical Area of the Project
The long term geographical objectives of the project focus on the developing countries in Africa as well as globally. In the short term objectives, the project shall continue the work within Kenya, expanding to various new communities.
You can read detailed accounts of the work being done and see images by clicking the NEWS link to the right!