Post Olympiadas

This weekend was the culmination of the Olympiadas (Olympic Games) on the NPH ranch - the event that we had been preparing for all month. The teams were announced in early May and met for a couple of hours twice a week, then met several hours a day every day last week to prepare a ~7-minute presentation/play and/or dance for the whole ranch. This year there were 14 teams of about 30 people each; each team was composed of NPH children, both on and off the ranch, and adults working in different capacities with the kids. My team (team 14) had the manatee as our “exotic animal of Honduras” mascot and was working up to the last minute on spray painting our shirts, finishing our backdrops, making a flag, and practicing our play and dance steps.

Manatee Team Flag

The events started with mass early Friday afternoon. The teams sat together and wore their Tshirts. After mass the teams moved their stage decorations, many of them big and quite elaborate, to the school venue where dinner was served prior to the 3+ hour show. Each team had a pretty modest budget, so the costumes and stage decorations were put together from cheap materials, either purchased or found somewhere on the ranch. One team even made a volcano that spewed bubbled during their show. Another had an elaborate giant beetle costume that looked like a robot when worn by a person. We had a seamstress on our team that made manatee outfits for the three youngest boys and some young men with skills to make a couple of small ships out of wire and paper. The ingenuity and creativity were fun to see and participate in.

Starting with Mass

Stage

Giant Bug Costume

Volcano Prop

Backdrop and Ship for Manatee Play

Allen was on the Jaguar team and sent me a WhatsApp message: “By the way I’m in a bit of a costume.” I got a glimpse of him and hustled over to take a photo. Unbeknownst to me (or maybe even him until a few days before), he ended up being one of the stars of their show – a jaguar hunter that learns his lesson not to hunt jaguars. He also got to be part of the dance. Here is a clip of their show.

Jaguar Hunter

The presentations were all fun to watch and way more elaborate than I had originally pictured. Also, each team had a cheer and a flag that they waved during their presentation and the next day at the games.

The Olympiada games were Saturday morning and consisted of a circuit of 14 games spread around the ranch. Each game was allotted 20 minutes: 2 for the cheer, 2 for the explanation, 8 for the game, and 8 to move to the next game. It was interesting to me that we had almost 30 people on our team for the games while usually only a dozon or less made it to the meetings. This was because Saturday was the only day that many of the NPH members from outside the ranch could come. I was extremely glad to have full participation on Saturday, especially as my team’s first circuit game was “tugboat” in which we used a rope to pull a bus along a road. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of this one!

Other games included:

“The Waiters” in which team members go down a slip-n-slide hill holding two glasses of water and try to fill a bucket at the end.

"The Clowns:" Members carry a balloon through an obstacle course and put it in a clown costume. The more balloons, the more points.

"The Climbers:"The team gets to the top of a slippery slope by using some as traction for others.

"Karting:" A Go-Cart where each team does as many laps as they can.

As you can guess, everyone got very wet and dirty. Each team included a couple of kids with disabilities and the games had methods and a points system to encourage their participation.

A Disabled Boy Carried by a Team Member

The games finished at the big park where everyone ate lunch with their team. I am not sure when they will announce the winner, but it will probably be soon. It may be as unexpected as my soccer team getting 2^nd place!

The Voluntarias Soccer Team Captain Holding the 2^nd Place Prize