Children's AIDS Art Programme

The Children’s Aids Art Programme’s (CAAP) main initiative is to alleviate the suffering and stifled emotions of disadvantaged HIV positive children in Cape Town, South Africa. CAAP utilizes a very effective form of therapy through art. This technique allows the children to express themselves in colour and clay, providing them with a welcome diversion from their illness, while also developing their motor and visual skills. Through these CAAP art classes the children, aged between 6 and 16, are given the opportunity to focus on something positive, with their art not only serving as an outlet, but also as a bright banner of hope. Their treatment with anti-retrovirals, initially made available by a foreign sponsor and recently supplied locally through the government, has also provided hope for a happier future.

CAAP also extends its positive reach by hosting outings for these children, giving them invaluable opportunities to encounter new experiences. Outing activities, such as attending art lessons and exhibitions, restaurants and moving theatres, exposes the children to everyday life and practices that would otherwise have remained unknown to them.