AMISTAD SANKOFA Youth Program

AMISTAD America's Sankofa Youth Program will provide twenty-four at-risk students from inner city New Haven Connecticut schools with the opportunity to sail for two weeks or more as the Amistad continues its port visits along the East Coast of the United States, completing the 2007-2008 Atlantic Freedom Tour by the end of this year. The Sankofa program has demonstrated that confronting the history of slavery and its legacy of racism through the Amistad Story is an effective way to reverse the low self-esteem that lies beneath poor academic achievement and aggressive behavior. The impact of the history lessons are greatly enhanced when combined with the experiential learning activities of sailing aboard the vessel Amistad. The students will communicate their experience to schools and their peers via website blogs and other forms of Internet-based social networking, greatly expanding the reach of the program and allowing for a unique opportunity of inter-cultural dialogue. Students will become leaders and mentors when they return to their own schools and make presentations throughout the state and beyond. NCA/NCF