February 2010: My First Journey by Chepe Largaespada

For February's Feature of the Month, we take a trip from Granada, Nicaragua to Santa Ana, El Salvador with Humberto "Chepe" Largaespada. Chepe, just 18 years old, is one of the youth coaches at the SWB girls program in Granada, Nicaragua. Over the last three years, he has grown tremendously as a coach and as a leader. In order to encourage his development, we invited him to come and teach/learn at the annual Campamento in Santa Ana, El Salvador. The trip marked Chepe's first time leaving Nicaragua. Below, Chepe comments on his experience on his journey and his time in El Salvador:

"The day before my trip to El Salvador I felt nervous because it was the first trip of my life. But I started to think about everything and I said to myself, if I don’t go today, I will never go, and some of the words I don’t like to say are 'never' and 'I cant'. When I arrived in El Salvador, I saw that everything was very different then in Nicaragua and I felt very nervous again the first night I spent there.

Soccer at campamento, 2010On the first day of camp, I became less afraid during the group meeting when the students and teachers introduced themselves and we played a bunch of fun games together. After that nervousness went away, I had a very good experience and I loved so many of the activities. The other people and campers were so friendly, humble  and nice. And the place, La Palma, was full of nature and when the wind hit the big trees it sounded like Lake Nicaragua where I live.  

When we started the camp, there were many classes each day. There was magic, mime, art, healthy minds and of course there was soccer. I really loved all the activities, and I got to coach the girls in soccer and help motivate them to see that they can also play. I met new friends at camp, and learned from them and they learned from me, it was a great exchange and I feel proud that I was able to go to camp and have this experience. I want to say thank you to Soccer Without Borders for bringing me to El Salvador and to all my friends at camp, I hope that I can go on more trips outside of Nicaragua in the future.

Sincerely,

- Chepe

Morning yoga class

Chepe with Luis, Ben and former US Mens National Team Star John Obrien who was on hand for the camp