Six Thrive students recently won gold medals in the Provincial Swim Championship, held on Dawahon Island, one of the most remote places that Thrive serves. The students faced countless obstacles, including that they trained only in salt water, as they live on the ocean and had no access to pools, yet they still won the competition in a chlorinated pool with no goggles. Janelle Carlos, Thrive’s operations manager in the Philippines, recently traveled to Dawahon to meet these kids, who she describes as strong, hard workers with enormous resilience.
“I was hesitant at first to travel alone to Dawahon,” says Janelle, “since I have been with friends, volunteers, and family members every other time I went. But seeing all of our Dawahon schoolchildren who won the Provincial Swimming competition was really priceless. I got to hear them laugh, witnessed the smiles on their faces, and saw a parent cry because she couldn’t contain how proud she was of her son.”
There’s so much hope in the power of healthy meals combined with hard work. We are beyond proud of these students and look forward to seeing what they do next!
