Michele Pope Dance studios

Ingane Yami is the isiZulu word for "My Child". Ingane Yami is a permanent, loving home for orphaned and vulnerable children.  The Village is based in the Shongweni Valley in Kwa-Zulu Natal and consists of individual homes, each belonging to a carefully selected foster mother and six children. The families are supported holistically with amazing on-site facilities that ensure the emotional, educational, physical and spiritual needs of each child is met.

Since 2016 Michele Pope Dance Studio’s has created a space for the girls at Ingane Yami to join their ballet classes free of charge; welcoming the girls into their studio family, and providing an outlet for their creativity to be realized and released. What began with 3 little girls in the Baby Ballerina class in 2016 is now (2021) 3 big girls in level x and 4 little girls in x.

In 2017 Michele felt to open the nets wider and include all of the Ingane Yami children in her end-of-year Dance Show- giving all of the boys and girls the opportunity to dance hip-hop on stage, in front of a live and very excited audience!

After attending Ingane Yami’s Dinner of Hope event in 2018 Michele and her good friend and fellow dancer Karen Thomson decided they could do even more! They reached out to their contacts across the dancing community and organized an incredible “Dancers Make a Difference” dance showcase, featuring 10 dance studio’s and raising an incredible R32,000 for the Village!

“At Ingane Yami our children are not just a faceless statistic, but they are a valued and cherished individual who God knows by name. We are so grateful to Michele Pope for choosing to bring out the individuality of our girl and giving them a space to express themselves through dance. Ballet is more than just dance, it has taught our girls discipline, confidence and self-worth. Thank you to Michele for using what you have in your hand to shape our girls futures. And thank you to the entire studio for welcoming our girls with open arms.”

To find out more about Ingane Yami, go here https://www.inganeyami.com/ / https://hillcare.co.za/


 

 

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