Purpose

Mission

Communicating culturally-oriented solutions to the next generation fighting HIV/AIDS and empowering at-risk transdiasporic youth to develop civic responsiveness within peripheral communities.

Priorities

+ Involve at-risk adolescents (14-18 years old) in HIV prevention by educating/training them on healthy social interactions;

+ Build an inclusive system of prevention that embraces a "whole person" approach;

+ Foster a dialogue with youth and community members based on cultural intelligence, and cultivate transcreated solutions in providing guidance and mentoring;

+ Promote youth leadership and engage the Brooklyn community on HIV prevention through our CarHIV Youth Society;

+ Advocate for special attention to screening, counseling and testing in the Caribbean-descendent youth population in Brooklyn;

+ Exchange information and exemplary experiences with other young people and local leaders in the Caribbean countries;

+ Bridge the gap between mainstream approaches to HIV prevention and the needs of peripheral communities in Brooklyn by promoting health literacy, HIV/AIDS public awareness and healthy lifestyle;

+ Generate an insightful collaboration with other agencies in New York and/or the Caribbean via partnership, training, research and/or consultancy.

Glossary

Transdiasporic: TDN has coined the term transdiasporic youth to describe a generation where the ethnic awareness may occur in response to a variation in the sociocultural milieu, a change in cohort or generational group as well as on the degree of ethnic heterogeneity in the daily life. Even though, they has entangled its norms, values and cultural identity in a different context of socialization, geography of imagination and social subjectivity from their immigrant parents, the identity behaviors of these youth are still related to Caribbean, or other geographical region, as a social space of reference.

Peripheral communities: it does not necessarily mean status of marginality since these communities are not in isolation nor are they in a contextual vacuum; however, certain areas in Brooklyn are under-privileged social spaces where statistics have shown that educational level, occupational achievements and household income are substantially lower than other urban communities in New York City. In the global context, the Caribbean islands, and certain nations represented in the Brooklyn area, fall in the Developing Countries category, which means they are peripheral communities as well.

Transcreated solutions: TDN has coined this term to reflect our level of cultural proficiency, which give us the opportunity to develop culturally appropriate channels of communication that can help us reach our target population in a language they understand both literally and metaphorically. We adapt our solutions to the youth's needs and ensure that his/her cultural identity and values are accurately aligned with solutions created in the interaction. We are not translating only words, ideas or concepts from our professional backgrounds. Instead, we are trying to connect with the feelings and the mood of our audience usually transmitted at affective level.