By Eleanor Milburn | Special Programs Manager
MindLeaps students took another step forward in their personal development this spring through a kitchen gardens initiative with the local Rwandan government.
Rwanda local agencies and 24 youth from Nyarugenge District joined MindLeaps students to plant kitchen gardens that will help our students and their families improve their nutrition. These gardens will add vegetables to their diet and excess produce will be sold to provide a much needed source of income. After spending time planting the gardens, the students were given seeds so that they can plant kitchen gardens with their families and teach their relatives what they learned during this activity.
Additionally, the local organization Kigali Farms has partnered with MindLeaps to teach our students about the role of mushrooms in their lives. Kigali Farms is an organization that works to help fight chronic malnutrition by helping mushrooms become a meaningful part of the Rwandan diet.
MindLeaps students are also looking forward to several exciting events coming up this summer.
Two dancers from Les Ballets Trockadero will be visiting MindLeaps Rwanda this July and August. Carlos Renedo, originally from Barcelona, Spain, has performed in musicals, TV, and in several dance companies. Chase Johnsey is from Winter Haven, Florida, and has performed in various roles with Les Ballets Trockadero over the last 13 years. The dancers will train our teachers in classical ballet technique. We are very grateful to them both for volunteering their time and officially joining our International Artists' Fund.
Also this summer, MindLeaps students have been invited to return to the Ubumuntu Arts Festival in Kigali. Some of our students will have the opportunity to perform in front of an audience of thousands. This year, MindLeaps Rwanda teacher Ssali Eugene will collaborate with American dancer Caitlyn Casson to choreograph and stage a work for ten of MindLeaps' advanced student dancers. We are grateful for the support of the US Embassy, Public Affairs Office, for making this possible.
Stay tuned for our next report with photos from the festival and all these exciting summer happenings!
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