Let's Help 100 Girls Lead!

The girls who come to MindLeaps are out-of-school and suffering from difficult challenges in their lives. Unfortunately, the challenges don’t stop when they start coming to MindLeaps.

Our Rwandan social worker, Kellen Mbabazi, regularly meets with each MindLeaps student and conducts home visits. During recent visits, she discovered that, while three students were at MindLeaps, one of the girls’ fathers had ended up in prison, another one’s mother became sick and is now in the hospital, and another’s relative had died. The girls had desperate feelings about how they were going to continue with their only source of support gone. Kellen provided both comfort and moral support and helped the girls problem-solve to figure out next steps. And, as always, MindLeaps is there for them as a resource during the day, providing shelter, education and food.

An important part of the MindLeaps curriculum is developing Social and Emotional Learning skills in our students. The dance curriculum teaches discipline, and we are able to track changes in this skill over time through our measurement and evaluation system. One of our students - Angelique - was exhibiting some discipline problems. During weekly meetings, Kellen discussed with Angelique two topics: “What is respect?" and "How do you handle yourself in front of teachers?”

Social-Emotional Learning skills that might be obvious to others need to be fostered and developed in many of our students. Kellen is an independent, career-minded female role model for our young girls.  In addition to the skill development in the dance classes, mentoring from MindLeaps teachers and staff is an important part of helping our girls grow.

Kellen makes sure to visit our graduated girls as well. These are girls that completed MindLeaps program in 2016 and are now enrolled in school. Some of these girls have more familiar problems, like struggling in French class. Being in school, getting to take French class, and then having to work through the difficulties of learning French, is a good new problem for these girls to face when you consider their backgrounds. 

Moving girls off the streets, through our rehabilitation program and into formal education is the work of MindLeaps.  You are making each of these pieces possible and bringing this holistic healing to some of the most vulnerable girls in Rwanda.

Thank you!