The Rowing School. Montevideo 7.12.15

The rowing school (escuela de canotaje) is in the area of Santiago Vazquez, on the outskirts of Montevideo. It is a school where children do football, rugby and rowing. This school has a monthly fee of 300 pesos, which is the cost of materials, but many of them do it for free, providing great opportunities for families that wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise.

We arrived at 4:30 to the school, the river was a bit dry, but we still managed to go rowing and get a lesson for amateurs from Guillermo (he organises the activities for children with some other volunteers). It was really fun and we had someone taking us all the way up and down the river.

At 6:00 we went to the pitch. Over a dozen children from all ages were waiting to play football. Guillermo told us that was only a small group of them and took Oliver as a volunteer to help in the activities.

Most of them have never seen or interacted with a foreigner and they seemed really happy to have us there. It was a perfect environment, all parents and children were having fun.

While Oliver was helping Guillermo with the class, the secretary of the school spoke with passion about the place. It was amazing to see the efforts and passion all the team put into this school, and the satisfaction they get from helping the families.

After the class, Guillermo dropped us off in tres cruces to get the bus, again out of genuine kindness.

We learnt a lot about the people in this school, we understood how much the community means to all of them, giving not only the children a sense of belonging, but also the parents.