Help 250 Youth Recover From Ebola in Guinea

You are receiving this Project Report since you are a current supporter of the MindLeaps GlobalGiving Program: “Help 250 Youth Recover from Ebola in Guinea”.

Rebuilding After Ebola

Guinea was faced with several challenges before the outbreak of Ebola.  This West African country ranks 182^nd on the UN Human Development Index.  Before Ebola, 42% of the population was under the age of 15 years, and the youth literacy rate was 45%.  

With the onset of the outbreak, the basic development challenges have only increased.  In particular, youth need additional services ranging from basic nutrition to educational support and psychosocial counseling.  MindLeaps is concentrated on attracting street children and vulnerable youth to safe community centers in the city of Kindia, and providing these essential services.

Resilience

Those foreigners who visit MindLeaps in Guinea remark on the resiliency of the youth: “These children believe they will overcome obstacles.”  Indeed, every weekend, youth fill the community center in Yewole, a village in the city of Kindia, because they want the chance to learn English.  We constantly here the kids say, “If we had understood English, we could have learned about Ebola before it happened.” 

During the weekdays, these same youth come to the community center to participate in MindLeaps dance classes (traditional Guinean dance and Western styles).  “Dance makes us feel happy and free,” one youth remarked after his first classes at the center.

As these youth start to feel a love of life again and the passion to learn, MindLeaps' next step is to sponsor them to attend boarding schools in Guinea.  With a complete education, these youth will not only recover from the Ebola crises, but they will thrive and leap into the future!

Your support makes these services available to the most needy youth in Guinea today.  Together, we are building their future.

Thank you!