By Eleanor Milburn | Assistant Director
On September 5th, special forces led by Col. Doumbouya ousted (now former) President Alpha Conde and suspended the constitution. MindLeaps immediately ordered all staff, kids, and trainers to stay inside and off the streets. Thankfully all MindLeaps students, teachers and children are safe.
Col. Doumbouya released political prisoners, and met with opposition leaders. It is anticipated that the country will call elections. Beyond all else, there is hope that a new government representative of the major ethnic groups – Peul, Malinke and Susu – could bring peace and economic development.
Although Guinea has faced political instability, MindLeaps has accomplished a great deal over the past couple of months. Team Guinea recently signed a 10-year lease on land to break ground for a new MindLeaps center. In September, MindLeaps held a ceremony to celebrate 32 graduates of the Virtual Academy with UNHCR. Just a few days after the coup, MindLeaps resumed operations including dance and academic classes and meals, as well as running a Train The Trainer program to teach female youth to become new dance teachers.
In July 2021, MindLeaps Guinea students who are sponsored in school completed the academic year and their national exams. MindLeaps is also very proud to announce that sixty students are completing the dance program in Guinea this year and are now ready to be sponsored in school. MindLeaps students are looking forward to the new school year starting in October. The coup d'etat has shaken Guinea, but operations at MindLeaps Guinea and its support for its students continues undaunted.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
