By Eleanor Milburn | Assistant Director
In Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, MindLeaps works with vulnerable girls from El Mina, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. Before the pandemic, MindLeaps provided dance classes, nutrition, and school sponsorship in collaboration with our local partner SOS Pairs Educateurs. When the pandemic broke out, the dance classes and services shutdown, but the need to continue serving these girls was more essential than ever.
The government took drastic actions to limit the spread of COVID-19 including curfews, closing schools, borders, and airports, closing all shops except for food, and ending non-essential work. Many work activities - which were the source of survival for poor families - stopped suddenly, which has greatly worsened the extreme poverty these families are facing.
In response, our partner SOS Pairs Educateurs with support from Exxon Mobil is distributing emergency relief supplies, focusing on the Lekreiga section of El Mina. In Lekreiga, the average household size is between 7 and 8 people, and 30% of children are under the age of 10. SOS Pairs Educateurs is working with the local government of Mauritania to coordinate the distribution of over 400 kits to our students' families and to all families in the Lekreiga district.
The relief supplies distributed to each family included:
• 25 kg of rice
• 10 kg of sugar
• 5 liters of oil
• 2 liters of bleach
• 5 bars of soap
You can see some of SOS Pairs Educateurs' work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0-3PQDcscc&feature=youtu.be
SOS Pairs Educateurs is also providing information resources for the community on their website: http://sospairs.org/covid-19
Mauritania is formulating reopening plans and looking towards opening schools later this summer, at which point MindLeaps' dance classes can resume. Until that time, MindLeaps and SOS Pairs Educateurs are continuing to support these vulnerable girls in their health and nutrition needs. In addition, MindLeaps is aiming to continue the training of its Mauritanian dance trainers through the new Virtual Academy, to build their skills as project managers and leaders.
We are so grateful for your support of these girls in Mauritania especially during these challenging times. They are looking forward to continuing their dance classes and education as soon as it is safe to do so.
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