AP PHOTOS: In the spirit of perseverance, artists flock to Congo's biggest dance festival

GOMA, Congo (AP) — For Virginie Magumba, a 22-year-old professional dancer from Goma, in eastern Congo, dancing is more than just a career.

“Dancing helps me liberate myself, manage my emotions, and not feel all alone,” she said. “All that I have become I owe to dancing.”

Magumba won the prize for Best Congolese Dancer at this year's Goma dance festival, the largest dancing event in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The annual festival, which sees dancers from all over the world flocking to Goma, has been held in the city for the past seven years despite ongoing attacks by rebel groups in Eastern Congo. The region has long been overrun by more than 120 armed groups seeking a share of the its gold and other resources as they carry out mass killings.

“This festival built me as a dancer,” said Magumba. “It showed me I could follow my dreams.”

Magumba started dancing relatively late. She watched dancers practice in her father’s sports club for years, but it wasn’t until she was 17, freshly graduated from high school and about to start a degree in humanitarian studies, when she decided to give it a go.

Over time, dancing became a sort of therapy for her. It made her forget family troubles and the ongoing violence in the region — and allowed her to keep hope.

“We try to keep hoping, but it's hard when nothing is improving,” she said. “The festival embodies this spirit of perseverance.”

Although her career as a dancer gives her the rare opportunity to travel outside the country, she says she's not planning on leaving Congo.

“So many people left in recent years,” she said. “But I built my career here, in my city, in my community. There are only two professional female dancers in Goma. I tell myself: if I leave, who is going to show the other girls it is possible?”

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Virginie Magumba, 22, a professional dancer from Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, checks her phone during the annual Goma Dance Festival, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Spectators look at a dance performance in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saturday, June 15, 2024, during the annual Goma Dance Festival. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Spectators watch a dance performance in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saturday, June 15, 2024, during the annual Goma Dance Festival. The annual festival, which sees dancers from all over the world flocking to Goma, has been held in the city for the past seven years despite the ongoing attacks by rebel groups in the region. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

A young spectator looks at a dance performance in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saturday, June 15, 2024, during the annual Goma Dance Festival. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Virginie Magumba, 22, a professional dancer from Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, performs Saturday, June 15, 2024, during the annual Goma Dance Festival. This year, she was awarded the prize of the best Congolese dancer at the Goma dance festival. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Virginie Magumba, 22, a professional dancer from Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, prepares for the annual Goma Dance Festival, Friday, June 14, 2024. The annual festival, which sees dancers from all over the world flocking to Goma, has been held in the city for the past seven years despite the ongoing attacks by rebel groups in the region. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Virginie Magumba, 22, a professional dancer from Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, prepares for the annual Goma Dance Festival, Friday, June 14, 2024. “Dancing helps me liberate myself, manage my emotions, and not feel all alone,” she said. “All that I have become I owe to dancing.” (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Virginie Magumba, 22, a professional dancer from Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, prepares for the annual Goma Dance Festival, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Virginie Magumba, 22, a professional dancer from Goma, cheers during the annual Goma Dance Festival, in Goma, Saturday, June 15, 2024. The annual festival, which sees dancers from all over the world flocking to Goma, has been held in the city for the past seven years despite the ongoing attacks by rebel groups in the region. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Dancers perform in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the Goma Dance Festival, Saturday, June 15, 2024. The annual festival, which sees dancers from all over the world flocking to Goma, has been held in the city for the past seven years despite the ongoing attacks by rebel groups in the region. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

FORDYCE, Ark. (AP) — A steady rain was falling outside Fordyce High School, but that didn't deter an army of volunteers who raced to hand out jugs of milk and bags of groceries to a line of cars snaked around the parking lot.

In the days since a shooter killed four people and injured 10 others at the Mad Butcher grocery, this town of 3,200 people has been grieving and grappling with the shock of a mass killing. But the community has also faced the void left by the temporary closure of its only grocery store.

While the Mad Butcher’s workers have been cleaning up from the aftermath of the violence in the south Arkansas store, residents have few nearby alternatives. Though the town has a Walmart and discount retailers with some food options, the closest grocery stores or supermarkets are located in neighboring cities at least half an hour away.

“A lot of people don't have the ability to get there or elderly people don't want to go that far,” said Darrin Brazil, the school's basketball coach, who organized the food pickup with two former classmates. “We just want to do that for the community for help people that really need that.”

The school, a city facility and churches are among sites set up for residents to pick up groceries while the store is closed and being cleaned up.

The struggle has highlighted concerns about “food deserts,” areas without access to affordable, healthy food nearby. Similar efforts sprung up in Buffalo in 2022 after a white supremacist killed 10 people at a supermarket.

"It’s a basic need that people have. It’s kind of bringing us together, to be honest," said Roderick Rogers, a city council member and pastor. “We’re trying to respond with love to overcome this tragedy.”

The front of the Mad Butcher was still riddled with bullets on Wednesday as workers were inside cleaning up and making repairs. A makeshift memorial for the victims — including crosses, flowers and candles — was set up next to the parking lot.

A banner reading “#WeAreFordyceStrong” hung under the store's name and green awning.

“Temporarily closed” signs were taped to the store's front doors. “Please pray for our community," they said.

Police have not given a motive for the shooting. Travis Eugene Posey, 44, pleaded not guilty this week to four counts of capital murder and ten counts of attempted capital murder and is being held in a neighboring county's jail without bond. Posey was injured after a shootout with police officers who responded to the attack, authorities said.

Police have said Posey was armed with a handgun and a shotgun, and multiple gunshot victims were found in the store and its parking lot. Authorities have said Posey did not appear to have a personal connection to any of the victims.

Many of the volunteers stocking up bags and handing them out at the school on Wednesday knew the victims or someone who was in the store as the shooting unfolded.

“The whole city of Fordyce is hurting over this,” said Elvis Smith, the maintenance director for the school district. His wife was in the store during the attack and escaped through a back door.

Houchens Industries, the Kentucky-based company that owns Mad Butcher, said it expected to reopen the store in the coming week, Little Rock television station KTHV reported.

Residents driving through the school's parking lot said they hoped it would be sooner rather than later.

“You definitely don't know what to do,” said Jayda Carlson, who dropped by the school to pick up groceries with her grandmother-in-law on Wednesday. "Am I going to have to spend more money on gas to get groceries and stuff that we need?”

FILE - Police respond to the scene of a shooting, Friday, June 21, 2024, in Fordyce, Ark. (KATV via AP, File)

Damage can be seen to a front window law enforcement officers work the scene of a shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, Ark., Friday, June 21, 2024. (Colin Murphey/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)

A sign in memory of the four victims killed in a mass shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store sits near the store's parking lot in Fordyce, Ark., on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)

Volunteers hand out bags of groceries and jugs of milk to cars lined up at Fordyce High School in Fordyce, Arkansas on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. The school is one of several food distribution sites that have been set up to help residents after a mass shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)

Signs are taped to the front doors of the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, Ark. on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. The store has been closed in the days following a mass shooting that killed four people, and volunteers in the community have been setting up food distribution sites to help residents. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)

Volunteers hand out bags of groceries and jugs of milk to cars lined up at Fordyce High School in Fordyce, Ark., Wednesday, June 26, 2024. The school is one of several food distribution sites that have been set up to help residents after a mass shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)

Trucks sit parked in front of the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, Ark., Wednesday, June 26, 2024. The store has remained closed in the days following a mass shooting that killed four people, prompting volunteers to scramble to set up food distribution sites for residents. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)