Kazu Haga, East Point Peace Academy, Oakland, California

In the heart of Nkwen Bamenda III Sub Division, Northwest region of Cameroon, the pilot project "Youth and Visual Arts Activism for Social Change" unfolded at Teken Quarter Youth Community Hall. This initiative, running from January to April 2023, targeted fifteen disadvantaged youths—including school dropouts, drug addicts, and other vulnerable groups. The project, supported by a seed grant, was launched by the Collective Arts Development Association (CADA), which provided six art facilitators. These experts delivered extensive training in various artistic skills, from sketching and drawing on canvas boards to graphic design and T-shirt printing.

Participants were introduced to the fundamentals of colors, composition, and proportions, along with practical applications in screen printing on diverse materials like jeans, nylon, and polyester. The primary goal of the project was to leverage art and social entrepreneurship as viable alternatives to drug use, abuse, crime, and poverty in the local community. Furthermore, the project included an outreach program involving sixth-grade pupils from the Government Primary School in Teken Quarter.

The success of this pilot paved the way for a flagship initiative titled "Empowering Marginalized Youths through Life Skill Education Art and Entrepreneurship Skill Development." This ongoing program offers six-month intensive training sessions to thirty disadvantaged youths, teaching them not only visual and graphic arts but also audio-visual skills and crafts essential for economic independence and social inclusion. Moreover, the program includes mental health education, counseling, rehabilitation strategies, and connects participants with mental health professionals as needed, continuing to transform lives thanks to the foundational support of The Pollination Project grant.

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