I didn't like Zumba in the states. I think I took one class at UNC and maybe the teacher wasn't great but I was underwhelmed. Had you told me that Zumba would turn into my biggest project in Paraguay, that it would spin off a women's soccer team, that we would participate and lead community events, and that we're even getting uniforms I would have never believed it.
There are a ton of reasons that this project has been so successful. One of the biggest reasons is that I've worked closely with a super guapa (hardworking) community contact. She is a nutritionist and helps me give charlas and every month the participants that want to weigh in have that opportunity through her. She also has lived in my pueblo her entire life and knew right off the bat who would be interested in coming and made sure they knew about it. Even so, I remember the look on her face when we had our first class with more that 70 women!
That was in Ocober of last year. Now, 8 months later our group meets three times a week for an hour, owns their own sound system, and we are well known in the pueblo. We've formed a more stable group of 30-40 "regulars," and many of them have lost weight and tell me that they look forward to Zumba not only because of the health benefits/free class, but because of the community that we have created. We're also slowly changing the way my site looks at exercise. My class is not only for young women, or for people that are already "in shape," and that speaks volumes. It's also great that these women have a space to call their own.
When I started my Peace Corps service I had some expectations in the back of my mind about the kinds of things I would do in my site, and this project just goes to show that sometimes the things you never could have predicted end up meaning the most.
I don't have a picture of my class because that is one of the rules that the group came up with from the beginning to avoid people being to embarrassed to come. However we will hopefully be taking a group photo once we have our tshirts!
There are a ton of reasons that this project has been so successful. One of the biggest reasons is that I've worked closely with a super guapa (hardworking) community contact. She is a nutritionist and helps me give charlas and every month the participants that want to weigh in have that opportunity through her. She also has lived in my pueblo her entire life and knew right off the bat who would be interested in coming and made sure they knew about it. Even so, I remember the look on her face when we had our first class with more that 70 women!
That was in Ocober of last year. Now, 8 months later our group meets three times a week for an hour, owns their own sound system, and we are well known in the pueblo. We've formed a more stable group of 30-40 "regulars," and many of them have lost weight and tell me that they look forward to Zumba not only because of the health benefits/free class, but because of the community that we have created. We're also slowly changing the way my site looks at exercise. My class is not only for young women, or for people that are already "in shape," and that speaks volumes. It's also great that these women have a space to call their own.
When I started my Peace Corps service I had some expectations in the back of my mind about the kinds of things I would do in my site, and this project just goes to show that sometimes the things you never could have predicted end up meaning the most.
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| My community contact Luz Marina and I in our soccer jerseys. |
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| The rest of the Zumba team before a game! |
Next week I'll be in Peru (Lina, Cuzco, Machu Pichu) with my sister Ashley and my Nana, so I'll update about that trip at the end of the month!
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