By Briana Giordano | Interim Assistant Director
New School Year in Guinea
It's the beginning of the school year in Guinea and with it comes a lot of exciting news for MindLeaps. Last year, we were able to send 16 MindLeaps students to school. This year, we are sending an additional 52 students to Primary, Secondary, and Vocational Training schools! Thanks to your support, we are now able to sponsor the education of 68 young people in Guinea. To aid in this transition, MindLeaps International Coordinator, Eugene Dushime has traveled to our center in Conakry. Dushime, the fomer country director of our Rwanda program, has mastered the massive task of organizing the transition to school, a task that also includes the organizing of new backpacks, pencils, notebooks, and other necessary school supplies.
In a country with a literacy rate of only about 32% for adults aged 15 years and over (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2014), the abilty for a child to go to school is rare. Your generosity allows nearly 70 vulerable youth the opportunity for brighter futures. Thank you!!
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MindLeaps Success Story
Only a few years ago, Saifou was a MindLeaps student in Guinea. Now, as a member of the International MindLeaps Team, he travels all across the continent delivering the MindLeaps program to vulnerable children in many countries. This month, he had the opportunity to travel to Kenya to help lauch a new program in Kisumu. This project was especially exciting because it marked the launch of our new inclusive curriculum that allows the MindLeaps program to better work with students with greater and different learning needs. Even more exciting is that for the first time, each of the 5 MindLeaps countries were represented in a single program. The team included trainers from Guinea, Mauritania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya!
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NYC Train The Trainers Comes to Guinea
For the first time, our New York City based Train The Trainers program for professional dancers is formally heading to the field. After a 2-week intensive training in NYC this summer, trainers will travel to Guinea for Tier 2 of their training in December. While in Guinea, the trainers will have rigorous 8-hour days that are filled with intensive dance movment and teaching. They will gain experience working in the field learning from experienced MindLeaps staff and working with MindLeaps students. We are excited for the first iteration of this training program to happen at our shining Conakry center. Check back with us in the new year to hear stories from the week!
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