gvi playa del carmen monthly achievement report september 2015

8/19/2019 GVI Playa Del Carmen Monthly Achievement Report September 2015

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September, 2015

Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

Kukulcan’s Crossing: GVI Charitable Trustfund raising challenge

Objective

The objective of this charitable fundraising event was to support our partner, the Centro de

Atención Integral Playa del Carmen, in achieving their goals wich included the continuation of dog

therapy for 6 months, and also to support Coco’s Animal Welfare financially in the construction of

their new vet clinic.

Summary

On Thursday 3rd

September 9 staff members and volunteers from the GVI Mexico Community Pro-

jects participated in the next GVI Charitable Trust fund raising challenge by undertaking a 42.6km

cycle challenge from the entrance of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve through to the town of Punta

Allen in the reserve itself. This was to raise money to support dog therapy carried out at the Centro

de Atención Integral Playa del Carmen for another 6 months. Any surplus funds raised would be for

Coco’s Animal Welfare.

Fig. 1 The staff and volunteers at the beginning of the cycle challenge


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Report

This monthly achievement report will focus on the GVI Charitable Trust (GVI CT) fund raising chal-

lenge called ‘Kukulcan’s Crossing’. This event occurred on Thursday 3rd

September and was a 42.6km

cycle challenge from the entrance of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve through to the town of Punta

Allen in the reserve itself. This gargantuan challenge was undertaken during the hottest month ofthe year here in Mexico and involved the use of uneven roads and terrain therefore its completion

was an amazing feat.

The aim was to raise money for Dog Therapy that is run by the Centro de Atención Integral here in

Playa del Carmen. It has already been running for 6 months, sponsored by GVI CT raised funds, and

has proved to be a major success for the welfare of both the children and adults who attend this

centre. The basis for this therapy is to use animals as a form of treatment. The interaction with the

dog helps enhance an individual in the following attributes: social, emotional, or cognitive function.

This can also be extended to include using the dog for educational or motivational purposes (1). The

other animal based therapy this centre runs is Equine therapy, which is another excellent animal

based treatment and has been running since foundation of the centre itself (2).

In order to compete, all participants were spilt into groups of 3-4 individuals. There were a total of 3

teams and each had to come up with a name and costume theme of their own. The event itself was

made up of various activities that the participants needed to complete while cycling. Most of these

involved taking pictures of different stages of their journey, of animals and vegetation they observed

on their way and also a group photo of each team taken by an unknown individual. Points were

awarded for each picture taken and extra points were awarded for ‘creativity’.

In order to encourage a competitive edge the following categories were created in which each team

could compete against each other: best costume, fastest time as a team and best team name. The

other category for individuals was most money raised for the event. Overall, all teams put in so

much effort and time into all the various aspects of this event that in the end it was decided just to

have a general prize for everyone that consisted of a contribution towards the farewell meal for

volunteers that took place the Friday after the event.

Fig. 2 The dog therapy in action at the Special Needs School


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The teams managed to raise a total of £1,552.84 (as of 14/8/15), which is enough to support the Dog

Therapy for another 6 months, and resulted in excess funds that will go towards one of GVI Mexico´s

other partners, Coco´s Animal Welfare. Overall this event was a major success and would not have

been possible without the dedication and time from all the staff and volunteers who participated

and to all those who kindly donated towards a very important and well deserving cause.

If you would like to know more about the community projects in Playa del Carmen, please visit:

http://www.gvi.co.uk/location/yucatan/

References

1. Presentation entitled ‘Integral attention centre for disable children and adults’ from the GVI

Mexico Community Projects archive.

2. Facebook page of ‘Centro de Atención Integral Playa del Carmen A.C.’. Last viewed 20:30 on

Tuesday 15th

September. Website address:

https://www.facebook.com/ceaiacplayadelcarmen

Fig. 3 Participants of cycle challenge at dog therapy the day after the race
http://www.gvi.co.uk/location/yucatan/http://www.gvi.co.uk/location/yucatan/

gvi playa del carmen monthly achievement report september 2015

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