Day 7 – Festival Del Papalote

After breakfast and some rest time this morning, we headed to El Cocal to check out the Kite Festival (Festival Del Papalote) being held there today.

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Upon arriving in El Cocal, we took off in groups by taxi to get to the end of the road, so that we could get a better sense of the size of the community. The walk back gave us some good perspective, as we got to see how the community feel changes and the houses become more spread out the farther you get from the docks. Some of us noted how this must affect the way services and information reach the area, with the distance making community engagement on that end more of a potential challenge.

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Back near the community centre, the kite festival was in full swing and oozing with life and laughter, with colourful kites in the sky and lots of happy people on the beach. Visitors and locals were spending a lovely day in the sun together, with plenty of food, music, and activities to enjoy.

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Games had been organized to entertain the festival-goers, and kids and adults alike took part – including the visiting Bomberos (fire service) and GVI staff.

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It was great to see the community come together and put on such a successful event, where everyone involved seemed to be having a great time. I believe seeing everyone be so excited about the kite festival gives hope to our project as well, as it shows that the people of El Cocal have an interest in creating meaningful community experiences together.

Back at the hostel, we divvied up into our project groups to figure out next steps for the coming week. Hopefully we’ll be able to create more fun experiences for the community as part of the project, using the joy of the kite festival today as inspiration.

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