On Thursday, our last “work” day with Right To Play was spent in Huaraz at the Antamina headquarters.  Antamina is the largest mining company in Peru and they have made it their passion to better the country. They completely fund the Right To Play program in Peru and we have been their honored guests all week.  Antamina has been very hospitable, really going out of their way to ensure we have a wonderful time.  It’s amazing to feel and see the impact they have made on this region as far as providing stable jobs and better schools for the kids.  Yesterday, during the Right to Play parade in Llata everyone was chanting “Antamina Antamina…” so the whole community is obviously pretty happy with their work.

Our final activity with the children was a bike ride around the Antamina private community. They created a gated, self-sustainable community high above Huaraz that provides housing, hospitals, schooling, and much more for their employees. The kids, and parents, were so excited to get to go on a bike ride with us. Some even took taxis from the village below, with their bikes hanging out of the trunk, to come up and join us for the ride.  After posing for what must have been hundreds of pictures, each one claiming “the last one,” we rolled out with the kids following.  Immediately there was a crash as the kids just wanted to get as close to us as possible. Even the kids that did not have bikes to ride, ran next to us on the sidewalk for the 2-mile ride to not be left out. After a few laps around the little village we returned to the start again for more photos, but with about half the number of starters.  Some were bloodied and bruised, others with mechanicals, but all eventually made it back with smiles on their faces.