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Title [Voices of Youth] Willing to Change at Alto Peru
(C) Alto Peru Edurado Vargas, Elias Aguirre, Johaira Aldazabal
1. EDUARDO VARGAS / Muay Thai coach, athlete and change agent(22) I have
lived in Chorrillos since I was a kid. I lived in one of the toughest areas of
Lima, Peru.
As I grew up, it was normal to witness complex situations in the neighborhood,
such as drug dealing, criminality, and gangs. However, I also lived close to
people who were entrepreneurial and wanted to move forward in life.
I am the
fourth of five children. When I was seven, my parents separated, and I was
under the care of my mother. As most kids here, I grew up in a difficult
setting. I studied in schools of this area. Elementary school at Maria
Inmaculada School and High-School at José de la Riva Agüero School.
Being a
male in an all-male public school means that you are bound to develop a strong
character or be skillful so that nobody passes you over. When I was in
school, I always had a talent for sports, and that brought me good friendships.
One of those friends was Arturo, who practiced Muay Thai for free at the Alto
Peru Project. I decided to go one day to try it out. I was nervous, I had never
practiced Muay Thai. I never imagined that this decision would change my life
forever. I took my first class with Victor Ccanto, “the teacher”, and at the
end, the sport had captured me and has never let me go. Muay Thai at Alto Peru
came with new experiences and friends who motivated me to train every
afternoon.
In the
first few years of training, I was still attending school. There were difficult
days where I did not have money for the bus ride. I would find a way to get it,
or I would walk to Alto Peru to train. My motivation was always stronger.
For me,
Muay Thai was a way to let go of all that accumulated energy, all the negative
emotions, and everything I was not saying. Training at Alto Peru made me feel
that I had found something I was good at and where I could achieve great things
if I set my mind on it. The goal was clear: I wanted to become one of the best.
This is how the fights and tournaments started. They made me feel more and more
certain about becoming a professional fighter.
The years
went by, and I turned 18. At that age, one must start bringing money home. And
I could not continue training, as much as I wanted to. I started working at a
call center. I felt unhappy, I felt I was wasting my time. I decided to quit
and continue training. I moved out and got a place near Alto Peru. I started
teaching to get money. It was difficult, but I managed to get settled.
My career
as a fighter was developing. I defended the title three times, and I got the
chance to go to Thailand to fight at the World Tournament. I managed to travel,
however, the pandemic postponed all my plans, because the World got cancelled
and I had to travel back home.
Now I am
22 years old, and I continue on this path. I work at Alto Peru as a change
agent in my community. I contribute so that more boys and girls can find
opportunities through sports, as I did, and have the mental well being we all
need. Who knows, maybe we can win more titles for the neighborhood…
2. ELIAS AGUIRRE / Surf coach and change agent(22)
The neighborhood of Alto Peru was located very close to
where I lived. It was considered a red zone. They started giving surfing
lessons to the kids who lived there. I was interested in learning, but I didn´t
know how I would, I didn’t know how to swim either. One day, when I was 12
years old, I dared to go and try one class, but since many kids attended, there
was no board for me. At first, this was sort of a relief, I didn’t feel ready
yet because I had no experience swimming. A while later, at Alto Peru, they
started teaching Muay Thai, and the teacher’s brother was my classmate at
school.
After a while, when I turned 17, I put my interest in
surfing aside and decided that I wanted to learn Muay Thai. Since I didn’t have
the money to pay for the monthly tuition fee, my aunt helped me out and I run
to get enrolled. I trained for a month and then I had no more money to keep
going, but I was invited to continue at no cost, as long as I did my best to
stay in the project.
I continued training for almost 8 months until I met Diego Villarán, the
founder of the Alto Peru project. One day, I dared to ask him whether he could
teach me to surf. He said yes and invited me to visit his home with the other
kids, on the weekend to go down to the beach.
I was happy. I had always wanted to learn, and this was my
golden opportunity. I went that weekend, and everything changed. I finally
could start making my childhood’s dream come true. Diego lent me a surfing
board and I couldn’t be more excited.
I kept training Muay Thai, but the sea brought emotions I
could not explain. Feeling the adrenaline as I stood on the board was very
special to me. When I learned surfing, I was
invited to teach the other kids in the neighborhood. I loved the idea of
teaching what I had learned to someone else. I started to see how, through
sports, the way of living of the neighborhood could change. The boys and girls
had more tools to socialize, to become a team, and the neighborhood could be
safer and more fun. Surfing changed my life. I started
looking at nature in a different way. The things the sea gives you are unique,
and I valued the enormous privilege of living close to the beach. Sports helped
me in my personal life. If my aunt had not supported me and I hadn’t known the
project, I don’t know what would have become of me.
I grew up in a neighborhood where young men my age deal with drugs or are in prison. When you choose the path of sports, you become disciplined. But when you choose sports at Alto Peru, you learn to choose the right path to achieve your goals. And for everything bad, there’s the sea, and for everything good, there’s the sea as well. 3. JOHAIRA ALDAZABAL / Muay Thai coach, architect and change agent(27) I never liked sports, I never
practiced any in my childhood. However, my Grandma always used to tell me that her Dad practiced boxing in his
youth. Grandma has always been my role model, she was like a mother to me and
one day, everything changed. She had a stroke and the worries and
problems that the situation caused made me feel frustrated and feel the need to
escape and find my own space. This is how everything started. One
day, as I got back from the University, where I was studying Architecture, very
close to my home in Chorrillos, I found a poster inviting people to join Muay
Thai classes at Alto Peru. This is how, at 22 years of age, I began my story
with this sport. Everything was brand-new to me. Kids
younger than me would teach and were great role models after going through
tougher experiences than my own. They gave me a very valuable life lesson. I
started to go every single day. I talked to Diego Villarán, the Project
Director, and he gave me the chance of becoming part of the team. This is how my adventure in this crazy
world of sports started. From that moment on, I tried to get better and better.
It was very difficult in the beginning. I have always been the eldest of the
team, and, when I started, I was the last to come back from running and the
last to finish the drills. My first teacher was Carlos Avilés. He encouraged me
to keep training. Gradually, Muay Thai and Alto Peru
became my salvation. It was an incredible journey of self-discovery, of
figuring out who I am, of knowing and understanding my limits and my flaws… Of
learning how to control myself and working hard to achieve what I want. I found
much more than I was looking for. I found a family who has been with me and has
supported me for the last five years. In time, I started competing at
national tournaments. In 2017, I was the national Muay Thai Champion and I have
had the chance to fight 40 times with great national and international
fighters. I also participated in Sanda tournaments at a University level and
won the National FEDUP Tournament 2018 and the UTP Cup. Muay Thai gave me the
chance to travel to Huaraz and Tacna in Peru, and to Chile. I am currently a Muay Thai and
Functional Training trainer and coach. Sports are part of my daily life. I
started as a Coach at the Center, I was in charge of the morning classes, and
then I started my work training the youngest. What Muay Thai has enabled me to do
is amazing. Since I started teaching, I have tried to convey those feelings.
Teaching is a whole different world. I realized that many people regard sports
as their safe space, their shelter. In my classes, I am responsible for making
them feel better. When I teach, it is more than teaching. To me, it is about
sharing my way of seeing the world.
What can be achieved through sports is amazing. I changed my philosophy of life, and thanks to that, I feel that I can contribute to my environment and help others. ※ Ideas in this writing are the author's own. |