Staff Voice - Corona Cocalena
Written by Kristin Cleaveland - GVI Manuel Antonio Staff Member
In mid -November, GVI partnered with a
local body boarding organization to set up our very first body boarding competition in El Cocal. After lots of
planning and making sure every detail was correct, Saturday came and we were
ready for the competition. The only
question we had: “Were the kids actually going to show up?” There were mixed feelings, but
we went in bright and early anyway (arriving at 6:30 am). We headed into what
seemed to be a very quiet community. We
walked to the beach, still worried the day wouldn’t go as planned. What we saw almost made me cry right then! In
the water were about 20 kids, practising for the competition while the rest
were eagerly waiting on shore for our instructions.
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| Competitors congratulating their friend and opponent |
The rest of the day went smoothly and it was
obvious how happy the kids were and how much fun they were having. As round results were announced, winners
cheered and got prepped for their next ‘hit’ while others patted them on the
back and gave them advice. It was an
amazing sight to see the change in attitude the children had. The same children who we have trouble dealing
with in school and who don’t generally work well with other kids were listening
to everything they had to do, complimenting the other contestants, and most of
all, enjoying themselves. I didn’t hear
one kid tell someone else they were better than them, which is usually heard
about 10 times in a short class period.
The competition was a huge success and I can’t wait to see how the next
one compares!
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| Celebrating after a very successful event |
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