Sankofa Center for African Dance & Culture

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Mission Statement

The mission of The Sankofa Center for African Dance & Culture is to utilize traditional African dance, music, and drama to preventatively educate youths & adults about HIV/AIDS, and provide free counseling, rapid HIV/AIDS testing, & life-saving drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS. We strive to use the realms of the arts as a tool to foster open communication, accurate knowledge, and promote healthy behavior change to protect, empower, and bring togetherness to our human family in the face of this world-wide disease.


1. ( S.C.A.D.C. at ' World AIDS Day Events ' at UCLA )	2. ( S.C.A.D.C. Director with fellow arts-based HIV/AIDS Preventionist, UCLA professor David Gere )

UCLA has been a great supporter of The Sankofa Center’s arts-based HIV/AIDS education & prevention volunteer program. However, non-UCLA students , residents of Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, and all others from our international community can also learn more about out volunteer opportunities in Africa, & join today, by visiting our Program, and Application pages above!

Ronnie Shaw - Director

UCLA African Studies M.A.

Sankofa Center for African Dance & Culture

Ronnie Shaw received his Bachelors degree in American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in the fall of 2003. In conjunction with research on West African dance, his passion as an avid dancer and academic, he was compelled to study abroad at the University of Ghana in West Africa, this changed his life. After living in Ghana his commitment to creating progress in Africa was solidified: People often refer to Africa as a place of absolute hopelessness but there is a spirit of kindness, love, and humanity that I'd never experienced in my life prior to going to Ghana. It is my goal to utilize the vibrant beauty of African culture, dance & music, and weave it into a tapestry of change for the well-being of the people . Ronnie recently graduated from the University of California Los Angeles in the Master's of African Area Studies program in the spring 2006 and runs S.C.A.D.C.'s volunteer program throughout the year.

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