Four months ago I decided to bring a highly regarded Karate teacher from a town an hour away. We live in a small Costa Rican town called Punta Islita. I never could have imagined what would unfold! What started as 4 kids on our deck has evolved into over 15 kids practicing 2 hours in the local school every Friday afternoon. Story continued after the video and photos...

Earning their belt move up.

So much love

Miguel and Vanessa's daughter, Lu, is progressing quickly

Our son and his idol Edu the teacher's son.

Our youngest member

Proud kids

Presentation video on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHDsJeSosMo

I am absolutely overcome by emotion when I watch these kids, aged 6 to 14 and many of which are girls, pour their heart and soul into practice each week. Perhaps the highlight for me so far was when I told one 10 year old boy he had been granted a scholarship and he ran up to me and gave me the biggest happiest hug I've ever gotten. There were some tears, I'll admit.

In these four short months I have seen the kids grow so much by overcoming mental and physical blocks and gaining such confidence in themselves. It's truly empowering and extraordinary. I never imagined this would be the outcome of my "small" idea to bring the teacher here.

We live in a tiny town of 100 Costa Ricans and there is no bus to our town so transport is very limited. Many of the kids that live here have only left to the "big city town" for doctors appointments.

It is already clear that some of these kids will go far with karate someday earning their black belts and traveling Central America for competitions as the teacher's 15 year old son now does! It is a huge and exciting opportunity for them.

We had our first belt change event with a Sensei who traveled to our small town all the way from the US. The kids were incredibly nervous and excited and over the months learned a very challenging routine (which included speaking Japanese) in a short period of time, but they absolutely excelled and took the process so seriously with deep commitment and having FUN!

We are already supporting 4 kids on scholarship through the foundation and the teacher, Mirros, has generously gifted two more kids free spots.

But the interest has grown so much from kids coming from all over the area (on motorcyles with their parents!) and we need any support that can be offered to help all these kids have the opportunity to practice and excel in this amazing discipline. I want to make sure Mirros is paid for her hard work and dedication as well. What she is doing for these kids is next level traveling over an hour each way and giving them top notch training. She herself has been practicing for 40 years and teaching for 20. The kids adore her and her son.

This Go Fund me helps to cover:

Monthly tuition for weekly practice

Karate Gloves (hand guards)

Karate uniforms (Gi)

I have already purchased $500 of special flooring out of my personal $ but we will need more

We (the teacher, some more affluent local families and I) are also dedicated to empowering the local communities to contribute when and if they can. We have asked the families to provide in anyway they can so that we can provide for as many kids as possible. Some families are more financially disadvantaged than others so we want the help to fit accordingly. We hope to empower the families to create their own fundraising events as well which I hope will be a success. Any effort and contribution, no matter how small, is appreciated.

And of course we hope with your help we can accomodate every kid that is committed to this practice.

At the moment we have 6 kids that are in need of scholarships and with $5000 raised we can get them through the year.

I want to also mention (because it is so impressive and my mom was a huge force behind it) the foundation is funding an incredible English language program at the school with over 20 kids and 20 adults benefitting from free weekly classes!

I am so proud and impressed by the things happening in this small town all thanks to the dedication and support of so many people from all walks of life.

Thank you!