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We’ve seen non-profits showcase immigrant cooking skills to improve cultural exchange, but now, from Colombia, comes an initiative that seeks to use local talent to benefit local people. Chocó To Dance provides a year’s worth of web-based dance lessons in Latin America’s four most popular dance styles — Salsa, Reggaeton, Choke and Champeta — all taught by the coolest kids from Quibdo, a small town in Chocó. Each subscription of USD 19.99 helps fund academic scholarships for students from the region, who would otherwise not be able to afford post-graduate studies.

Chocó To Dance is the brainchild of the non-profit academic foundation ‘Fundación Juan Pablo Gutiérrez Cáceres’ created by a Colombian artist in memory of her son, Juan Pablo, who was killed in an accident whilst doing post-graduate studies in Chile. The Foundation ultimately aims to makes its scholarships available throughout Colombia particularly to those young people of Afro-Caribbean and indigenous descent.

With the irresistible good humor and charm of the young Qubidonos, Chocó To Dance is proving that you don’t need to make use of guilt or misery to raise money for a good cause. What other local skills could be leveraged world-wide for the benefit of the local community?