By Rebecca Davis | Executive Director
You are receiving this Project Report since you are a current supporter of the MindLeaps GlobalGiving Program: “Post-Ebola Guinea: Educate & Empower The Youth.”
With support from The Sharing Fund and individuals like you, MindLeaps started a program in 2016 to serve a greater cross-section of youth and families. Previously, MindLeaps had focused only on serving street children, but in post-Ebola Guinea, urban families across the country are in need of more services than ever before.
MindLeaps’ approach is to attract youth to safe spaces through fun dance classes. Dance is loved by youth across the country, so they attend regularly and our local staff can begin to understand their families. This allows us to help each child given his/her particular situation.
One of the biggest challenges, however, has been the perception of our method to bring youth to safety: dance. Although popular among boys and girls, elders carry negative stereotypes thinking it is "street dance" or "music video imitations". We have combatted this challenge by giving the community and parents a way to see into our approach through public presentations. In the end, some of these elders even become ambassadors of our methodology, encouraging our innovative way of keeping kids safe.
Understanding the Community
The general thinking in the city of Kindia, Guinea, is that dance has a bad effect on children’s path. For this reason, it is not seriously taught or studied. Since this idea existed in the field, it was difficult for us to recruit girls into our program when we started. We only had six girls in our program in Kindia. The parents and families of these girls were very skeptical of how their children would progress at MindLeaps.
Sharing with the Community
At our closing ceremony last year, the students presented everything they had learned over seven months in 2016. The ceremony included traditional dance, contemporary dance based on the MindLeaps’ curriculum, and individual student speeches in English.
We approached parents to ask their impressions after the girls’ presentations. The response was unanimous: the attitudes of their girls had positively changed and the performance showcased just how confident the girls had become as young women. The parents expressed their total satisfaction in the program.
Changing the Community : The Story of Fatima
In particular, the mother of Fatima, said to us, "In the beginning, they informed me that my daughter was in a program for dance. I was very worried about this, especially when I saw that she was spending almost all her days at MindLeaps instead of sitting at home. Sometimes, I sent my younger brother to check and ensure me that she was really there. He reassured me of her presence at the center. But, I still wasn’t convinced of this program until today. Today, I saw my daughter speak English. I don’t understand English, but I am sure that she learned this because of MindLeaps. We know that dance is very bad, but in this program, you teach children differently. It is about teaching children – not really about dance. Now, I actually think that it is necessary for my daughter to attend this program."
Growing the Community
In 2017, MindLeaps has a new project to help the communities where our program operates, Kindia and Conakry. We will be working with Canadian NGO Ruben’s Shoes and the Ministry of Social Affairs to distribute 10,000 pairs of shoes to local schools and orphanages.
Our growth is possible because people like you believe that children can be saved and communities can improve.
Thank you.
And…
To follow our community shoe distribution program in 2017, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media through the enclosed links.
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