Sailing Project: FUNTER
FUNTER was founded in 1982 to provide integral rehabilitation to physically disabled persons for their incorporation into society.
The project was initiated in November 2007. The objective is to teach the discipline of sailing to the children of FUNTER as a means of building their self esteem and independence, so that they feel capable of confronting new challenges in their lives.
These young sailors use Optimists for sailing practice. They are accompanied by a therapist that helps with their physical preparation, as well as family members. Jenny Chinchilla, who is in charge of coordinating the project on behalf of FUNTER, provides motivational talks. Chinchilla suffers from medular injury due to spinabifida.
The success of the project thus far has grown to include a long term goal: Serve as a model to other central american countries to establish the project in their countries until the sport of sailing becomes one competitively practiced by physically disabled persons.
http://www.funter.org.sv/
Sailing School: San Agustín
It is the second community of Lake Ilopango that FESAVELA has worked with, and the third in the country. The fishing town of San Agustínis located en the northen shores of Lake Ilopango, with a population of less than 1,000.
The Optimist Sailing School began in June 2008 with a group of 12 children from 7 to 12 years old. That number has more than doubled to include two groups, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
One of the goals is to teach the children sailing not only as an extracurriculor activity but also as a sport to carry to a competitive level, both national and international. More importantly is the goal of providing an activity that promotes a healthy and environmentally conscious lifestyle. As goes a common saying in El Salvador, sailing is a “healthy body and healthy mind” sport that can be used throughout life in many positive ways, physically and mentally.
The Objectives:
- Promote sailing to the communities of Lake Ilopango
- Train students to a highly skilled and competitive level of sailing
- Develop an appreciation for Lake Ilopango as a place necessary to care for and maintain clean
- Make the sport a healthy alternative to caring for and exercising the body
- Teach the value of team work and personal discipline
- Build self confidence
- Strengthen decision making skills, abstract thinking, and communication skills
- Create a new source of income for the community through sailing tourism
Villa Centroamericana
The Villa is a housing/sporting complex where athletes of all disciplines of El Salvador temporarily live and train. At this time, there are 4 sailing athletes at the Villa. They are attending on full scholarship and receive all benefits, including medical, food, and high quality training. These 4 athletes come from the Sailing School of Santa Barbara, a fishing community in Chalatenango.
Model of Success: Santa Barbara
In 2004, Fesavela began to develop sailing as a sport in Santa Barbara, a community that previously only used boats for fishing. A sailing school was offered for the community’s children (around the age of 7). The students dedicated themselves to this productive activity that is healthy and includes them in society.
The community was also taught to fabricate their own sailboats so that they will be able to repair and build their own sailboats or sell them.
Currently Santa Barbara has 60 students at the Sailing School. One of them, Luis Roberto Ramírez, has represented El Salvador in South Korea, England, Colombia, Gautemala, Hondorus and Nicaragua.