Alanis: A dream in motion
Alanis, who lives in Perú, is below ten years old, but her determination and passion for Olympic gymnastics make her shine beyond her young age. Since discovering this sport, she has dedicated countless hours to training. However, talent and passion are not always enough when financial barriers threaten to stop a dream from moving forward and becoming a reality.
Alanis in music class, 2024
Alanis’ parents, with limited resources, have done everything in their power to help her keep training because they see how much she excels and how gymnastics fills her with joy. However, the cost was becoming prohibitive, yet they did not want to stop their daughter from training. Alanis is fortunate that she attends a CAFI overseen by Red Viva Perú, a community centre offering holistic care to children. She was one of two children who were offered a temporary scholarship programme for high-performance young athletes. This scholarship not only provided financial relief to her family but also gave them time to explore sustainable solutions, whether through government programmes, sponsorships, or other long-term funding opportunities.
Alanis with her medal
Jumping for joy
Before joining the scholarship programme, Alanis and her family were struggling to cover the costs of training, equipment, transportation, and other indirect expenses. Thanks to the CAFI sports scholarship, Alanis was able to continue practising without interruption. Her hard work and dedication soon bore fruit - during the scholarship period, she competed in national tournaments, reaching the podium three times, including winning a gold medal in one competition. After her win, Alanis said, “Thank you so much for supporting me and making it possible for me to keep training and competing. I am so happy because of this!” (She actually jumped for joy after saying this!) “Thanks to Viva Network and the people helping me, I want to keep practising forever because I love gymnastics and it makes me feel so good.”
Her mother also shared her deep gratitude: “We are truly thankful for this support for my daughter. It motivates us to keep encouraging her, and we will do everything in our power to ensure Alanis continues with the sport she loves so much. Without a doubt, this help gives us the strength to keep fighting for our daughter’s dream.”
CAFIs - targeted holistic care
The CAFI project aims to provide assistance and support for lasting changes in the lives of children and adolescents in Lima, Peru, and other cities, and similar community centres are run by Viva partner networks in eleven other countries. With Viva coaches supporting each network as it runs its CAFI within its own context, most are structured around five key components: recreation and leisure time, basic needs, education or learning support, resilience, and family/protection.
The reach under recreation and leisure time in the CAFIs run by Red Viva Perú has been wide and deep, as noted in a recent annual review:
✅ 466 children benefited from weekly recreational activities.
✅ 60 children participated in sports championships.
✅ 2 children received high-performance sports scholarships.
✅ 6 community centres were equipped with sports facilities.
✅ 11 churches have established recreational spaces.
More impact together
Alongside supporting multiple networks in running CAFIs, Viva also helps networks connect and share insights through our global online forum and communities of practice. Recently, Viva hosted a regional conference in Paraguay that brought even more engagement and learning opportunities - read more here. Another initiative this year is a joint sustainability project, which has brought together seven networks, including Red Viva Perú, to form a collective Regional Fundraising Plan. A Viva Coach coordinates these activities, enabling individual networks in different countries to feel a sense of belonging to something much bigger. And as more funds are raised, this translates into more activities that CAFIs can run, which can contribute to the healthy use of free time, strengthen social skills, and support the educational, physical, and emotional development of vulnerable children and adolescents. It also means more opportunities for giftings to be fully utilised - so that more children like Alanis can reach for the skies.