Post-Ebola Guinea: Educate & Empower The Youth

In October, the Inaugural Annual MindLeaps Scholarship was awarded to one refugee MindLeaps Trainer! This year's receipient is Emmanuel, lead refugee trainer in the Mahama camp in Rwanda. This scholarship will allow Emmanuel to travel to Guinea on his school break in December to be a part of the International Train The Trainer’s program. He will also receive training from Guinean MindLeaps Trainers.

While in Guinea, he will enhance his ability to communicate and teach the MindLeaps curriculum and methodology. Emmanuel will then return to his camp to share his newly acquired knowledge with his peers and community. This will help them develop the necessary skills to gain opportunity for an improved life. Congratulations, Emmanuel! We are so proud of your hard work, and we can't wait to have you at the MindLeaps Center in Guinea!!

Emmanuel's story

Emmanuel was born in Burundi. He and his family fled as refugees, and they have been living in the Mahama Refugee Camp in Rwanda since 2015. Currently he is a student at Paysannat L Secondary School in Mahama where he studies Literature (English), Kiswahili, and French. In 2018, Emmanuel was selected to join the MindLeaps training program where he quickly rose to the top of his cohort for his natural technical dance ability and his exemplary character. Now, he is currently the lead trainer of the Mahama program - not to mention a positive role model for Mahama youth. Emmanuel is passionate about ballet and contemporary dance, and he has the natural physical qualities for a classical dancer, like flexibility, excellent feet, and the ability to be emotive when dancing.

This past month, MindLeaps Executive Director Rebecca Davis visited MindLeaps Guinea, where MindLeaps has been present since 2011. In 2017, MindLeaps opened its own center in the capital city of Conakry, using its tailored, codified dance program to attract children who had previously lived on the streets or had escaped prostitution. This is crucial considering that 46% of Guinean primary school age children are out of school, and 49% of youth ages 15-24 have no formal education. Additionally, 51% of girls are married by the age of 18, and 21% by the age of 15. 

Rebecca Davis visited MindLeaps Center in Nongo, Conakry as well as the homes of several MindLeaps students. For many Guinean students in the program, MindLeaps provides much needed stability and security. Indeed, about half of MindLeaps families live in abandoned buildings and are frequently forced to move when the building becomes legally occupied. Many children sleep on the floor with little to no bedding and often, no dinner. 

Three such students, siblings Assiatou, Omar, and Abdallaye, lived in a decaying house near the Conakry MindLeaps center. During the rainy season, the roof leaked, leading to sickness within the family and forcing them to leave. Their only option was to stay with relatives outside of the city, meaning that unfortunately, the children could no longer participate in MindLeaps dance classes.  However, MindLeaps was able to provide school sponsorship for all three of the children, and today they are living in better conditions and will all be heading to school in the fall!

Despite these challenging home situations, the MindLeaps Guinea program is thriving. The children arrive to the center enthusiastic to learn and improve their dancing skills. The US Embassy has recently provided expansions to our English program. Our Guinean trainers are some of the best: Salifou and Faby are both currently abroad for a month working on MindLeaps programs in Kenya and Mauritania respectively. We are excited to see what they achieve beyond Guinea and are happy that they are part of expanding MindLeaps' work across the continent.