Building a Path to Education for At-Risk Youth

Back to school

The fall academic term in Africa saw MindLeaps sponsoring over 700 students in school. In Guinea, 244 children were enrolled in classes; in Rwanda, 140 returned to school; 105 girls and boys were back in the classroom in Mauritania; in Uganda, 212 students, in both Kampala and the Oruchinga Refugee Settlement, began the new term. MindLeaps kicked off the school year by outfitting our kids with books, uniforms, school bags and other needed supplies. We also provide tutoring and after school programs to support and encourage all our young learners. Throughout the year, MindLeaps staff and education coordinators work with our students, their families and their schools to facilitate communication, address problems and ensure that our youth succeed in their studies and move forward to achieving their dreams.

Breaking in the Bronx

Over the last several months, MindLeaps has been working to create a breakdance component to integrate into our program in the Bronx, New York. Breaking was born in the Bronx in the 1970s with kids inventing their moves in the streets, and of course today it is a phenomenon worldwide. With roots in their own community, breaking is a dance language that really speaks to the kids in our program, capturing their imagination and encouraging them to express themselves. 

We have been working with professional dancer Victor “Kid Glyde” Alicea to develop the program. Kid Glyde is President of The Dynamic Rockers and co-founder of the Kids Breaking League. He was also one of the judges for the breakdancing competition at the Paris Olympics. Breaking at MindLeaps will be structured around developing the seven cognitive and social-emotional learning skills that are the core of all our programs – self-esteem, teamwork, language, grit, discipline, memorization, and creativity.   

In the process of sharing his talent with us, Kid Glyde also visited our program in Guinea and worked with MindLeaps students and trainers there as part of developing the breaking curriculum. The kids and instructors alike were excited about their new moves and had a great time!

English language learning in Guinea

Guinea has a rich diversity of local languages, with French serving as the country’s official language. Both French and English are taught in schools, and MindLeaps offers supplementary classes in both languages to the children in our dance program. We believe that English language skills also create expanded opportunities for youth and adults, and we organize a Community English Program for members of the local community. In July, our center held a graduation ceremony for current Community English students, who received their certificates of completion.

MindLeaps has also been running virtual classes with American instructors to teach English to Guinean teachers, students and artists. Visiting teachers have traveled to our center as well to augment English language learning with in-person classes.

Guinean artists make up one of the new groups taking English classes at MindLeaps. Over the years, MindLeaps has come in contact with a wealth of talented young performing artists in Guinea. Without English language skills, it has been difficult for many traditional dance troupes to market their performances to a larger international audience. Giving them a tool to enter competitions, interact with sponsors, and communicate effectively through social media creates new economic opportunities for promoting their art and culture around the world.
 
Girls Get It in Uganda

In Uganda, 30 girls, age 14 to 18, are currently enrolled in the Girls Get It Virtual Academy program. The MindLeaps Virtual Academy is a learning platform that helps students use technology to learn competitive skills in such areas as Digital Literacy, Business Entrepreneurship, Communication, Project Management and Budgeting, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Child Development, Inclusion, and Social Media and Marketing. Participants access courses online wherever they may be. To accommodate low-bandwidth locations and minimal electricity, Virtual Academy classes are delivered through WhatsApp and low-resolution videos easily accessed on smartphones provided by MindLeaps.

The participants in the current Girls Get It program are from the community in Kampala and attend school in grades 8 through 10. They also take advantage of the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) classes offered at the MindLeaps Center in Kampala. For the Virtual Academy, the girls are organized into groups on WhatsApp, and courses are led by experts in the various fields, who lecture through voice messaging, supplemented by occasional Zooms. The girls’ active engagement in the Virtual Academy can be seen in the 4,000 to 5,000 WhatsApp messages exchanged weekly!

Celebration in Rwanda

July marked the 10^th annual Ubumuntu Festival, held every year in Kigali during the last week of the 100-day commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. ‘Ubumuntu’ means ‘human’, and the aim of the Festival is to unite people through the universal language of art, promoting communication, reflection, creativity and expression. The Festival is a platform for coping with trauma and driving social change towards peace and cooperation.

Again this year, MindLeaps youth performed at the Festival, appearing on opening day. Fourteen of our young dancers, including two refugee youth from the Mahama Refugee Settlement, performed a beautiful and moving piece choreographed to bring to life the unifying themes of the Festival. It was so rewarding for our kids to have their talents spotlighted in this way – they shone on stage and we are so proud of them!