About Us
Transforming Lives
Collective Arts Development Association(CADA), is a development, humanitarian and non profit organization located in Nkwen,Bamenda,Northwest region of Cameroon.We operate and manage an art school where we offer a 9month intensive training program to 15 disadvantaged youths from different crisis affected communities in the Northwest region of Cameroon.They include school drop outs,substance users and abusers,homeless,orphans and vulnerables who are willing to change mindsets,adopt positive behavior and add more meaning to their lives.Participants are equip with skills for effective social inclusion,creative,innovative and entrepreneurial techniques to enable them become economically self independent.The program comprises a 6month intensive theoretical and practical training in various artistic and entrepreneurship disciplines and a 3month mentorship program.After the end of the 9month program, successful participants are assisted with basic material and financial resources to set up small social ventures.
Our participants are youths selected because they come from marginalized backgrounds and have faced adversities as a result of the Anglophone crisis and expresses the passion and zeal to adopt positive attitudes,change perspectives and add more meaning to their lives.This involves changing mindsets, breaking barriers of limitations through reflection,creativity and innovation.
For the most part that participants are willing and expresses the passion to acquire life saving skills in CADA’s art school only confirms their readiness to ignite transformative change from within despite their diverse backgrounds.Be it a school drop out,drug addict,internally displaced,homeless,orphan or vulnerable youth as a consequence of the Anglophone crisis,what matters to us is the motivation,passion and drive to accept change,rebuild resilient,adopt positive behavior and lead sustainable livelihoods through descent jobs,trades and carriers.
To make the training program interesting, convenient and meaningful for participants,we take them through a race in three tracks.Involving them in a series of reflective,recreational,theoretical and practical activities which aim at enabling them to adopt positive meaningful change from within.It is vocational because participants have the opportunity to specialized in a chosen artistic discipline or trade and equip with skills,techniques and resources to set up,operate and manage small social ventures.
Participants are facilitated through a learning by doing process by a team of professional and experienced artists from different artistic backgrounds,mental health,financial,community youth development and agriculture experts.
The tools we use includes visual thinking and design,fine and performing art and practical demonstration of concepts by participants.We believe that the quality of a participant’s work and the creativity they exhibit improves as the learn through a learning by doing process and continuous practice.Participant’s rating and adhesiveness to training is measured through the ability to apply the knowledge of understanding and practice of the course related concepts,observation,skills and techniques explore and employed during training sessions
Following the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon from 2016, with villages and schools burned down,above 800,000 children and youths have become school drop outs,homeless,internally displaced,orphans and vulnerable.This situation has made these youths to lost direction,confused,frustrated and see no hope for the future.As a result,the find themselves involve in substance use,abuse,crime and violence.
At CADA’s art school, located at Nkwen,Bamenda, Northwest region of Cameroon, we offer 9month intensive training to15 disadvantaged youths caused by the Anglophone crisis who are willing to change perspectives and add more meaning to their lives.We train and empower participants with social inclusive,artistic and entrepreneurial skills and techniques to enable them become responsible citizens,psycho socially sound and to engage in descent trades,jobs and carriers.
This is a flagship program of Collective Arts Development Association(CADA),a development,humanitarian and non profit organization registered on the 27/12/2016 in Mezam, Bamenda II Sub Division, Northwest Region Cameroon with registration N0.55.E.29/1111/VOL.8/ALPAS.Registered with the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training in Cameroon and partners with the regional delegation of Arts and Culture,Bamenda,Northwest of Cameroon.
CADA'S Curriculum(A Race in Three Tracks)
A race in three tracks is a blend of artistic and entrepreneurship training that takes the participants through a series of reflective,recreational,theoretical,practical and exciting activities to enable participants to adopt positive behavior,build a creative and innovative mindset,change perspectives and engage in descent economically sustainable activities.
Track 01: 1month
The Boot:
The week before Track 01 begins,selected participants who are severely affected by the crisis and lack shelter are offered temporal accommodation in average standard rented single rooms located around the art school for the duration of the 9months training program,and provided with basic needs to enable them create a convenient atmosphere for the training.For the first 2 weeks in Track 01,participants goes through daily mental health education,psycho social support and counseling sessions.Participants with complicated mental health and psycho disorders as a result of substance use or depression receives particular and regular attention and follow up from mental health and hired psychiatric experts when the need arises.Within the next two weeks, participants are introduce and drill on basic life and social inclusive skills,like self awareness, creative and critical thinking,self confidence,communication,problem solving,decision making,leadership,team building among others.These training sessions are done alongside visual representations,practical illustrations and examples to facilitate participant’s understanding and adaptability of concepts.The objective is to ensure a stable mental and balance state of mind for participants,reawaken the sense of self awareness,purpose and critical judgement.Facilitating reflective and analytic thinking in the minds of participants to question what attitudes,habits and behaviors are conventionally right and wrong and their essence or relevance to oneself or present situation.The support,knowledge and skills we provide through these sessions creates an opportunity for the participant to visualize the enactment of positive change and to make a liberal choice to facilitate the process from within.
In the last week in Track 01,participants are introduce to the various artistic disciplines/trades the school offers and gives them the option to choose which artistic discipline or trade to specialized in.This Track ends with a day for feedback from participants as pertain to self realization,orientation and team work.
Track 02: 5Months
The Leap
This Track constitutes intensive theoretical and practical training sessions and workshops for participants with respect to chosen specialized artistic disciplines or trade, with focus on:
-Building a Creative and Innovative Mindset.
-Art Education and Training -Art and Entrepreneurship Education
-Experiential Learning and competencies
Through an experiential learning process, for the next 5months, participants receives theoretical and practical training in visual,graphic,audio-visual arts,printmaking, craft,fashion designing and entrepreneurship disciplines. The objective is for the participant to learn by producing creative,innovative and functional works of arts and products with market,cultural,aesthetic and ethical values.Participants are train to acquire entrepreneurship skills such as business and finance management,design of business plans,product branding,marketing strategies,publicity management,project design and customer services.On weekend days within this five month period,facilitated by project staffs, participants organizes recreational activities like traditional dancing, singing,acting,playing of indoor and out door games among others.The reason is to create a soothing atmosphere for participants to manage stress,improve on self esteem and mental well being.
During this Track, Mondays of every week are reserve for agricultural purposes and activities.We own and manage a farm at Abongfen, a quarter in Babanki Tungoh,Tubah Sub division Northwest region of Cameroon.Facilitated by an agricultural technician, participants are train on organic farming techniques and other methods to improve and increase food production.
Track 02 ends with a mini exhibition at the school, a week were participants exhibits art,craft works and other products design and created during this 5month intensive training session.Based on preliminary and midterm evaluation and monitoring reports on participant’s adherence and commitment to training,with regards to the supervisory mechanism put in place,participants are awarded certificates for successful completion of a 6month intensive training program.A graduation ceremony is organize to appreciate participant’s determination and self motivation in the process to foster positive change.
Track 03: 3Months
The Hook
In the first month in Track 03,participants goes on a three week internship program to nearby social ventures and enterprises own and manage by former participants who are beneficiaries of our flagship program and to other related social ventures in Bamenda Town.The objective is for the participant to understand the day to day realities of managing a social venture/enterprise.After which the participant is expected to present a report stating the learning,challenges,experiences and observations encountered during the internship program.A forum is then organize with participants and facilitators on the last week of the first month in Track 03 to discuss on participants internship reports,share the challenges and seek probable solutions.
Paired and guided by financial experts and art facilitators,for the next 1month participants are expected to design a business plan,develop a budget and action plan to set up prospective small social ventures or to scale an initiative.During the first two weeks in the last month of Track 03,participants are expected to present each a file to the organization’s general secretariat which contains participants certified true copies of identification documents,proof of successful completion of 6months of intensive training(Certificate),issued by the organization,an internship report,and a well design and feasible business plan,budget,action plan and signed application for seed funding.
Meet our Team
