Sponsor A Student in School
Many children across the world are unable to go to school due to unstable home lives, and fees associated with “free” education (uniforms, supplies). They lack a supportive home life, struggle for basic necessities and services, and are unaware of what social services may be available to them. Without the basic necessities of life or any sort of programmatic intervention or support network, such boys and girls have no possibility of self-sufficiency, and no chance of positively participating in their communities.
The MindLeaps Dance & Data program utilizes a comprehensive core dance curriculum to develop cognitive skills and social-emotional learning, while incorporating individualized monitoring to determine when youth have reached improved levels of critical thinking.
After completing the MindLeaps program, these students are ready to reintegrate into academic schools or vocational training. Sponsoring a child in school allows you to contribute to our programs through helping our students to go to school and get the education they need.
Nadine, Rwanda
Graduated from Vocational Training
Yvonne, Rwanda
Graduated from Vocational Training
YOUR IMPACT
Over 436 youth were sponsored to return to school in 2021 alone. MindLeaps has been sponsoring students in school since 2012, and dozens of students have now graduated. Not only does your sponsorship provide the students with the items listed below, it will change their lives forever. Read more about the stories of our graduates on the left.
Sponsorship provides each student with:
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School Tuition
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Clothes/Uniforms
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School Supplies
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Essential Meal Support
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Family Strengthening
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Health Insurance
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Tutoring Support
ABOUT FAWSIA
Fawsia is a quiet and sweet girl who loves music, reading, and her friends. She loves all the classes at MindLeaps, and also loves the free time outside of class where she spends her time talking to her friends and reading books. One of our volunteer dance teachers, Cassidy, said that Fawsia loves borrowing her iPod and listening to music.
ABOUT YVONNE
Yvonne is 18 years old and made it to 7th grade before dropping out due to extreme poverty. She lives in Nyakabanda with her parents, six sisters, and two brothers. With nine children, the parents were unable to support all the children in school and Yvonne had to drop out before attending secondary school. Her dream for the future is to study tourism and have a career in Rwanda’s booming tourism industry.
STUDENTS READY FOR SPONSORSHIP
Assina Bongababa, Uganda
Needs day school sponsorship
Liliane, Rwanda
Needs boarding school sponsorship
Mukisa Jovan, Uganda
Needs day school sponsorship
Pascaline, Rwanda
Needs day school sponsorship
Masembe Jamal Deen, Uganda
Needs day school sponsorship
ABOUT
Assina has completed her end-of-term one exams in grade three 2022 at St. Charles Lwanga Nursery and Primary school and was ranked first out of 35 students with a total of 494 marks out of 600.
The two-year lockdown due to COVID-19 was incredibly hard on her and she fell behind on learning English because she lacked constant practice. Still, by the end of her first term back, she had an improvement and could now interact with others in English.
Assina’s outstanding performance impressed all teachers, and the school wants to promote her to Grade four even before completing the second and third terms because of her resilience. Assina is now in need of sponsorship for the next term of school so she can continue her educational journey.
ABOUT LILIANE
19-year-old Liliane’s dream is to learn. She is very committed to her schooling and wants to study math, physics and computer science in 10th grade. She also loves helping other students and says “When there is a person who is hoping to get help from you, it makes you feel proud of yourself.”
ABOUT MUKISA JOVAN
Jovan has completed his end-of-first-term exams for Grade Seven at Najja parents’ school and ranked in the second division with an aggregate of 22. Before the lock down time, Jovan was in grade Six and had only covered term one lessons, after two years of lock down as a result of a government directive that automatically promoted learners to the next class.
The school promoted him to grade Seven which made term one exams challenging since he had not covered most of the content. Despite all the hiccups, Jovan performed well in the second division. He is now taking a holiday learning program with other children in grade 7 that the school designed to help them catch up with missed lessons, which requires him to pay some of UGX 150,000.
Jovan is looking forward to the next term and needs sponsorship to continue his educational journey and to push forward.
ABOUT MASEMBE JAMAL DEEN
Jamal has completed his end of term one Examinations of grade 5 at Najja Parents primary school and was ranked in the fourth division with Aggregate 31. After the two years lockdown, Jamal says catching up with studies again has been a big challenge after being home for all that time. Most of the subjects challenged him apart from English and mathematics.
He is looking forward to continuing in the next term and needs sponsorship to continue his educational journey.
ABOUT ALICE
Alice is the oldest of her three siblings. Before she joined MindLeaps, her father was not at home regularly. Now, he is often doing construction work to support the family. This new source of income has helped all of the kids get into school! Alice loves playing games with friends at MindLeaps and hopes to one day fly planes with RwandAir.
ABOUT PASCALINE
Pascaline has lived with her aunt since her parents divorced. Her aunt does not work, so most of their income comes from Pascaline’s father’s job in construction whenever he comes to visit. Despite this unstable living situation, 8th-grader Pascaline is very committed to her studies. Her absolute favorite class is English. Outside of school, Pascaline loves playing ball games with her friends and attending the MindLeaps dance program, where she also really enjoys sharing stories with the other kids.
How to sponsor a child
To sponsor a student, first choose your sponsorship level listed below. If you know of a student you’d like to sponsor, please include their name in the form. If not, we will select a student for you. You can sponsor a student via the button below or by phone at (646) 902-1295.
Education Program Sponsors ($1-$41 monthly)
Sponsors receive
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An invitation to the annual Zoom meeting for sponsors with MindLeaps Education Program Staff.
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An annual report on the progress of the whole cohort of MindLeaps students sponsored in school.
Day School Sponsors ($42-$83 monthly)
Sponsors receive:
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A picture of your sponsored child
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Three progress reports per year on your sponsored student in January, May and August (following the conclusion of each school term)
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Invitation to the annual Zoom meeting for sponsors with MindLeaps Education Program Staff
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An annual report on the progress of the whole cohort of MindLeaps students sponsored in school
Boarding School Sponsors ($84+ monthly)
Sponsors receive
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A video recording of sponsored students performing their own original dance pieces
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A picture of your sponsored student
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Three progress reports per year on your sponsored student in January, May and August (following the conclusion of each school term)
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Invitation to the annual Zoom meeting for sponsors with MindLeaps Education Program Staff
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An annual report on the progress of the whole cohort of MindLeaps students sponsored in school
Sponsorships are recurring monthly gifts in order for your donation to match the timing of school expenses. However, if you would like to sponsor via a one time gift you can make a $500 or $1,000 donation online here and put the name of your sponsored child in the dedication box.