At Damas, the kids loved drawing with chalk. They drew pictures of our team and wrote how cool GVI is. Here are my favorites:
Daily Archives: October 11, 2014
GVI Quepos New Schedule Takes Off
After painstaking months of gathering and compiling feedback, working through possible schedules and generating full stakeholder support, we at GVI Quepos have successfully implemented our new schedule! This week was our trial run and it well. Of course, there are always bumps in the road with classes being canceled, surprise visits from supervisors and planning for cultural events, but overall the schedule was well received. Our particular achievement is Adult English in Damas. We have been at Damas Primary School for about a year, but we have never tried having English classes for Adults. This week, 8 adults showed up to the first class and 16 to the second! It was inspiring to see how excited they were to learn and help each other. I can’t wait to see how this program develops.
The ongoing Adult English program in Cocal was also a success. Being led my new volunteers for the first time, they rose to the occasion and effectively taught their students and took care of children during a torrential rain storm. Great job team!
My personal highlight of the week came from a question by a sixth grader. After our workshop for the upper grades on Tuesday Orlando asked me, “Lily, what can we do during Adult English? Do you think we could have more workshops?” We started talking and I learned that Orlando and his friends are aspiring artists and want to learn more techniques. We agreed that if he brought me a list of students who wanted to participate in arts workshops and told me the type of techniques they wanted to learn, I would find them a volunteer to teach the class. By Friday, Orlando had his list of students, at least two themes for the class and was very proud to be the Arts Workshop Captain. On my end, I discussed the opportunity with one of our Arts volunteers who jumped at the chance to teach this motivated group. The first lesson will be Thursday and they will be working on painting masquerade masks.
We ended the week by playing blacktop games from around the world and creating chalk drawings. The kids write their names, drew pictures of us, and wrote how much the love GVI. It was very sweet and a perfect way to end the week.
Ultimate Frisbee comes to Damas
With the help of one of our volunteers, the kids at Damas had a chance to learn Ultimate Frisbee. She taught them throws, explained spirit of the game, and led them in several drills and a half court game.
She and her team were so successful, that the kids wanted more! So, we are working towards starting an Ultimate team where the kids can hone their Frisbee, leadership and teamwork skills. Great job team!
Bodyboarding for Health, Education and Fun
On September 28th, GVI Quepos and Quepos Bodyboard hosted the Corona Cocaleña, a youth bodyboard competition that took place in El Cocal. This sport is popular with the kids of Cocal, but they often do not get the chance to compete in competitions where they can learn the structure and rules of the sport and teamwork. This competition was the second annual event and it was very successful!
The day will filled with smiles, backflips, arroz con pollo, reggae, and fun. All the money raised from the event went towards prizes for the kids such as new fins, a bodyboard cover, and inscription fees. We hope that any child with talent and motivation to stay healthy and continue in school can be involved with bodyboarding. I’m sure we’ll see some of them at the Worlds Competition in Chile!