WELCOME TO
Palá-nte Alliance
THE BEGINNING . . .
It all started with a move . . .
Over a year ago, we (the Guzman/Alvarez family) moved from the United States to Cartagena, Colombia, and fell in love with the people of Cartagena. As beautiful as it seemed, we were very aware of the drastic economic differences in the city and saw both the facade and "real" sides of Cartagena.
As we searched for activities for our children, we made a conscious effort to ensure that our kids did not live in a bubble. We wanted them to experience everything that Cartagena had to offer, not just the "pretty" side. We checked out various soccer clubs, but Cenfyd Sport, our first partner, caught our attention. Something was different about them. For one, it was an economically diverse group of children, and the coaches genuinely cared. We enrolled our youngest child, and gradually, we felt like part of a family.
Reality hits . . .
As we grew closer to the community, we became aware of the challenges the club faced, such as some children struggling to attend practice due to financial constraints.
One child, in particular, would use his lunch money to attend practice instead of eating lunch. He would rather play and stay off the streets than eat. We also saw parents who were committed but struggled to pay fees and parents who could only afford motorcycle transportation for their children and not themselves; missing every game. We realized for some children, soccer was a life saver, keeping them off the streets where they can easily be lured to sell drugs, or be sexually exploited. We realized we wanted to help, with our experience as community pastors and activists, we understood that helping hurts, if not done the right way.
That's when Palá-nte Alliance was born . . .
We started by sitting down and spending hours learning from the coaches. Their dreams and their limitations, their struggles and their plans. They shared with us the long life dreams for the kids on their team and kids and their communities. The reality became even more clear. Although the coaches have dreams and goals, financial challenges often make them impossible to achieve. Coaches have even gone unpaid and have had to cover some expenses out of their own pockets. Some of them have been unmotivated and tired of the same financial problems.
We, as an organization, want to empower the coaches to continue what they are doing and to think bigger with their goals. We are an alliance, meaning we work together. Palá-nte Alliance will not be in charge of the work or dictate what is best for the community. We will only provide the resources, and only the coaches and leaders will know what is best. We aim to empower them to make their own decisions, projects, and goals. We are there to boost and level them up, hence the word Palá.
Cenfyd Sport is our very first partner, but our vision is to have other partners we can empower not only in Cartagena, but all over Colombia. Vamos Palá-nte!!!
Why Palá-nte?
The word "Palá" originates from the Palenquero language, spoken by the people of San Basilio de Palenque, which is home to some of the friends we have made, including coaches, and some families. The word "Palá" means to rise up or level up, which is exactly what we aim to achieve - to uplift leaders, youth, and their communities.