CIAMO recently held its first teacher's training.
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A short film showing our work by Sarah Ellison.
African children are naturally artistic. They dance, sing, play drums, draw, and invent toys just for fun. The international ArtForceAfrica team recognizes the need in West-Africa for arts education. The team believes that these talents should be harvested to encourage creative and cognitive development in children, thus creating new generations of artists who can compete in the global music market and leaders who can think creatively to find new solutions to old problems.
In order to create a project that would respond to the need for arts education, ArtForceAfrica in collaboration with the people of Ouidah, Benin founded The International Center of Art and Music (CIAMO), which opened October of 2010. Watch the "First Steps" video and explore our site to learn more about CIAMO and ArtForceAfrica.
Want to help CIAMO grow? You can make a donation to support our programs, find out more about becoming a teacher or contact us and let us know how you'd like to help.
After a year of high quality traditional dancing lessons, CIAMO's Traditional Dance troupe was featured at the International Vudon Festival.
Peace Corps Response Volunteer Sarah Ellison recently completed a mural project that promoted the use of mosquito nets in the fight against malaria. The project was funded by a Small Projects Assistance Grant (SPA) from USAID