Soul Beat Africa
African development action with informed and engaged societies
Soul Beat Africa
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Jango Youth Centre

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Jango Youth Centre provides Angolan youth with information on family planning and HIV/AIDS through plays and workshops. Housed in a well-equipped building in Viana, 15 km from the capital (Luanda), the centre offers 1200 children and young people between the ages of 12 and 24 activities ranging from basketball to information technology and English lessons. It aims to grab the imagination of Angolan teenagers, and help them steer clear of HIV/AIDS infection. The centre also educates youth about the risks of unprotected sex while providing them with a place to meet friends and socialise.
Communication Strategies

The centre uses the peer group pressure approach instead of doctors, nurses, and parents to "lay down the law". Organisers say it has an atmosphere like a trendy youth club. It uses television and music including a "cool guy" who raps anti-AIDS messages to encourage debate on the issues surrounding sexual ethics, rape, and sexually transmitted infections.

Counsellors are on hand to help with HIV/AIDS issues as well as some of the deeper problems afflicting Angolans after almost three decades of war. Topics raised are channelled into the theatre group, which performs at the club each Saturday during half time at the weekly basketball tournament and takes its plays out to the local community.

Development Issues

Children, Youth, HIV/AIDS.

Key Points

In an effort to help young Angolans escape the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the centre also sells condoms for five kwanza (US $0.08), a fraction of what they cost in Luanda.

Jango hopes to pass on its safe sex message in a fun way, and is designed to get teenagers back into a positive cycle of socialising and learning. It also hopes to give youth the opportunity and the tools to choose a better life for themselves.

Partners

UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Cuidados da Infancia, Population Services International(PSI), Corporate foundations, US Agency for International Development (USAID), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States-Angola Chamber of Commerce.

Sources

ActAlive October 20 2004.