With the Peruvian school year winding down, we hosted goodbye parties this week in two of our five schools – Colegio Pacca and Virgen del Rosario. To create a culminating year-end event that was true to GSW values, it was essential that we bring the spirit of healthy competition into the day’s activities. Hence, we orchestrated a series of games and races including a potato sack race, water balloon toss, musical chairs and many more.

Egg-and-spoon race at Colegio Pacca.

At Pacca, the girls divided themselves up into colored teams from last year’s Olympics Day – pink versus white versus purple.

Purple and pink teams competing in the potato sack race at Pacca.

They played each race for points, and at the end of the day the pink team claimed victory – dominating in the three-legged race and egg-and-spoon race.

The pink team prepares for the three-legged race.

The races generated a tangible feeling of team spirit, which we were particularly glad to see in our new school Virgen del Rosario. It has been encouraging to see friendship and camaraderie develop between the Chicas Dinámicas at Rosario within such a short time. The Rosario girls particularly enjoyed the water ballon toss, and we enjoyed having a water balloon fight with the remaining balloons.

The girls at Virgen del Rosario begin their water balloon toss.

After completing the various races, we treated the girls to a celebratory cake and distributed a number of end of the year presents. Each girl received a signed certificate of participation in the program, a Chicas Dinámicas group picture, and the most coveted gift in our prize bag: a large colorful water bottle.

Luz Anael and Pamela were racing partners.

The gifts elicited countless looks of delight and gratitude. But the parties were bittersweet – everyone will be missed over the three month summer break, and for our sixth grade girls, this week marked the end of their time in the program.

The shining faces of Chicas Dinámicas at Virgen del Rosario.

We will be recreating the goodbye celebrations in our three remaining schools this coming week, and this time with the special surprise attendance of former Project Manager Megan Connolly. We look forward to finishing the school year with the fun competition, teamwork, and gratitude that we seek to cultivate in Chicas Dinámicas every week of the year.