Juanito de Ugarte Memorial Scholarship
Juanito de Ugarte Memorial Scholarship
Juanito de Ugarte Memorial Scholarship
Juanito de Ugarte Memorial Scholarship
Juanito de Ugarte Memorial Scholarship
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Juanito de Ugarte Memorial Scholarship
The Juanito de Ugarte Memorial Scholarship was founded in 2014 following the death of Juan de Ugarte, one of Peru’s most promising paddlers. “Juanito,” as friends knew him, was respected internationally for his technical skills, warm and generous attitude, and desire to help others improve. A member of team Jackson Kayak and an instructor for the Ottawa Kayak School Keener program, Juanito’s dream was to encourage and enable more Peruvian youth to become involved in whitewater.
In the two years since its inception, the Juanito de Ugarte Memorial Scholarship has worked to make Juanito’s dream a reality. In both 2015 and 2016, the scholarship was able to fundraise to send one young Peruvian paddler to a session of the OKS Keener program, a kayaking development summer camp in Canada.
This year, the scholarship has changed direction. Instead of bringing one kid to the warm waters of the Ottawa River, we aim to bring a team of coaches to Peru to instruct eight youth from Latin America. We have tailored the Keener curriculum to apply to the rivers of South Eastern Peru.
From Oct 8th - 28th, five days a week, for three weeks, the kids will paddle three rivers, the Pachachaca River, the Urubamba River and the Apurimac River.
Our aim is to unite and build a community of young leaders and kayakers in Peru and Latin America and to help cultivate a love and respect for the river environment in them.
The program’s goals include:
So far, 30 kids have applied, including youth from Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina.
We have six coaches committed, and more have expressed interest in offering support. Of the six coaches, two are Peruvian, and others come from the global paddling community.
“What I have taken away most from the scholarship
is confidence on the water and the friendships I made.
Now I want my friends to come visit me so we can go kayaking in Peru.”
- Lorenzo Vellutino
One of the largest goals of the Scholarship is to promote a love of rivers and introduce the importance of river conservation to the next generation of Latin American paddlers. Over the three-week long program, there will be three major conservation events.
We are seeking US$10,000 to fund our program.
Our budget includes:
Rie Rio is a nonprofit association that focuses on promoting and developing river conservation awareness by teaching and encouraging the practice of river-based sports. We inspire people to live a humble and healthy life close to nature and water.
The Juanito de Ugarte Memorial Scholarship is a successful program dedicated to the diffusion and promotion of whitewater kayaking among youth. As the values and objectives of the Scholarship and Rie Rio Association are aligned, we have seen fit that Rie Rio will manage the Scholarship as part of its program.
We believe that by teaching and passing on our passion for whitewater kayaking to the next generation, we will inspire more kids to enjoy the outdoors and more humans to take care of Mother Nature.