Recreation Committee

January 21st, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Recreation Committee

My good friend Ryan, a volunteer in the sierra, gave me a great idea the other day and I am stoked by what has come of it. He is planning on constructing a sand volleyball court in his site. There are very few opportunities for recreation in La Encantada, especially for women. I believe this is one of the reasons the population resorts to drinking as often as they do. Its just like a small town in the country.

Women have practically no opportunities to exercise in my town, besides walking to their fields. On the contrary, the men have their soccer fields as well as most work labor intensively in their fields. I believe this is the main reason why the women in town are significantly heavier on average than their male counterparts. Actually, I read that Peru has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world.

Volleyball is very popular in most parts of Peru and the women are quite good. The national time lost in the championship of the Olympic qualifying round for South America. A volleyball court would be a tremendous addition to the town because it would provide women and girls an opportunity to exercise. Also, I am a strong believer that sports build self-confidence and instill character in those who participate.

Therefore, I have formed a Recreation Committee. It consists of several parents who have in my opinion demonstrated interests in improving the quality of life of those who surround them, especially their kids. We will be investigating various possibilities of recreation activities to implement in town and then soliciting support of community partners such as the municipality, the local NGOs and members of the community themselves.

January 12th, 2008 Chulucanas, Peru

Basketball Tournament

Tonight the basketball league starts up again. This time it isn´t so much of a league as just a 2 week tournament. Our team consists of primarily the same players as last year. We won the first two games pretty handily. I still find it amusing that I play in a basketball league here cause I never imagined playing anything more formal than 5 on 5 on some broken concrete court outside with battered rims. Its good to exercise consistently again.