HIV/AIDS Program

The goal of Kids-to-Afrika (KTA) is to enable students to identify with something positive and constructive, something that is much larger than themselves and that goes beyond the scope of their individual lives. Our goals are met through out-of-school activities and trainings that occur monthly, with the international component lasting between 10-12 days.

The KTA Peer Educator training program is an instructional model for awareness and prevention of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Our target audience is students between the ages of 12-16 whose interests include becoming Peer Educators and empowering themselves to become conscious contributors to the local and global community.

In 2003, KTA Scholars selected to travel to Ghana in November 2003, received approximately 30 hours of training. In 2004 twenty students were selected to obtain the skills necessary to be effective peer educators playing a significant role in educating young people around HIV/AIDS. To-date our students have come from about 25 different New Orleans Public Schools. 100% of KTA scholars are graduating seniors who enter college.

Highlighted Activities

LaVerne Price, HIV/AIDS trainer for the State of Louisiana "We select you as scholars when you enter the program and as you exit you become ambassadors."

• Students need varied opportunities for learning the facts about HIV/AIDS and to express their opinions and concerns. In October 2003, several students met with Earvin "Magic" Johnson when he addressed an assembly of about 1,000 public high students from all over New Orleans.
• Students distributed their handmade World AIDS Day themed Quilt to the Ghana Commission on AIDS at Achimota Secondary School, November 23, 2003 in Accra.

Continuing Role

In January 2004, several returned KTA03 Ambassadors attended the 2-day Peer Educator Institute sponsored by South Eastern Louisiana (SLU) Excellence in Health Project. Students have made presentations at their churches and for the National American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) Conference held in March 2004 at the Royal Sonesta in New Orleans. In June and July 2004 students participated in the state sponsored "Making a Difference" curriculum training and three-day Teen Institute sponsored by the Red Cross and the Louisiana State Department of Education, in Robert, Louisiana. The seventh group of KTA students selected to travel to South Africa in 2005 are currently engaged in research, trainings and quilt panel design.