Empower Refugee Youth Through Dance

The Jim Bell Centre at MindLeaps Rwanda has served as a haven for the most vulnerable youth in Kigali for the last six years. Providing dance classes, academic and IT courses, daily meals and more, kids found a safe and engaging environment where they could dance and learn. Due to COVID-19, mandatory shutdowns have closed the Center, and our kids can no longer come for the programs or for the daily meals they relied on. Our obligation to provide for the vulnerable children in our care is more pressing than ever.

To provide emergency relief to our kids and their families, MindLeaps is now distributing food and sanitation packages, which reach over 425 children through the MindLeaps Centers in Guinea and Rwanda. MindLeaps is also providing emergency support for an additional 600 children in Uganda. With special government permission, and above and beyond their usual duties, our staff purchases food and sanitation supplies in bulk, repackages them into family-sized portions, and delivers them directly to affected families’ homes. When visiting the families, in addition to distributing supplies, our staff discuss best practices in sanitation and staying healthy, practices that will be essential for turning the tide of new infections and keeping our students and their families well. MindLeaps is helping deliver these life-saving meals and supplies to 240 families throughout Rwanda.

Usually a dance studio, classroom, and office, right now the Jim Bell Centre is the staging ground for our staff to collect and distribute these needed supplies (photo below). When it is time, we look forward to welcoming our students back to the Center so they can find their safe haven once again.