I'm a geologist and I do environmental impact studies in Costa Rica. I started doing capoeira around 10 years ago. Nowadays I also work as a volunteer in SOS Children's Villages Costa Rica where I'm in charge of a children's capoeira group called Quilombo da Capoeira.

In 2014 I decided to teach capoeira for kids because I felt the need to let others know the many advantages one can get from capoeira. As soon as I started looking for a place I realized that I wanted to work with those who need this help the most. That's why I went to SOS Children's Villages. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to start the Quilombo da Capoeira group.

A part of SOS Children's Villages' vision is to develop social skills among children, which is why capoeira is perfectly adapted to their needs. Through capoeira we have seen kids improve their self-esteem, get to know their real capabilities, learn a new language and new ways to communicate with a help of their bodies, music or through painting. Capoeira gives them a way to learn how to control their physical strength and it is really important for children who might have had a violent past. Being a capoeira student myself, I'm amazed by the learning process and how it goes both ways. Every time I go to the Quilombo I learn something new.

When we started it was only one SOS-village once a week but the kids asked for more capoeira, so we made it twice a week for two hours each time. As the word of capoeira lessons spread through the SOS Children's Villages, we opened one more Quilombo da Capoeira group in another SOS-village in 2016.

At the Quilombo we always try to bring, not only capoeiristas from different groups, but also artists from other fields, such as gymnastics, yoga or parkour, so that children could attend different workshops.

As a part of these efforts, Quilombo da Capoeira has organized a series of Berimbau workshops, during which children paint cabaças and vergas to create their own instruments.

In November 2016, capoeiristas from every group in Costa Rica joined the quilombolas to participate in our third Berimbau Workshop. Students and teachers from Vive Capoeira, Capoeira Luanda, FICA, Cordão de Ouro and Semente de Jogo de Angola shared art and joy with the kids for the whole day. The results were astonishing. One of the things I like the most about our project is how it unites people from different capoeira communities for the sake of children.

We encourage capoeiristas from all over the world to come see it for themselves, and visit the Quilombo da Capoeira while enjoying our beautiful Costa Rica, it's nature and it's small but spicy capoeira community.

As capoeiristas, I think we should all stand together and combine our efforts, so that we can let capoeira do more good for society. Here, like in many other parts of the world, capoeira is having an immense impact on those who are on the margins. We are thankful for the opportunity to play our role and also want to thank you for helping us to tell the tale of the Quilombolas.