La Palma, Latin America Regional Games Host Town Pupusas and murals in the “Cradle of Peace” This group of volunteers from the Instituto Nacional de La Palma, (pictured with Colonel Nelson Pozo, Torch Run seminar participant from Ecuador, center) commented, "We never imagined that the athletes would be so outgoing and that we would have so much fun!" [All photos by Ann L. Brueggemann] Many people assume that Central America is quite homogeneous, when in fact each country has its own unique foods (in El Salvador, the pupusa), customs, and even different vocabulary and intonation in the Spanish language. For many athletes, the journey to El Salvador was their first intercultural and international travel experience, and the Host Town program in La Palma, held 25-27 March, provided an unforgettable introduction to El Salvador and its people. The delegation from Costa Rica, enjoying a beautiful morning in the mountains, greets the crowd as they parade past the Pupusería La Palma. La Palma hosted two days of activities for delegations that had traveled up to 12 hours by plane to El Salvador. When they learned via official decree that La Palma had been selected as Host Town for the First Latin America Special Olympics Games, hundreds of students and adults stepped up to volunteer and ensure the program’s resounding success. La Palma is located high in the mountains near the Honduran border and 85 kilometers north of San Salvador, and is where the post-civil war peace process began in 1984. A gala evening ceremony in the town square celebrated the simultaneous arrival of the international delegations and the "Flame of Hope" (on the Central Leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run), and Mayor Héctor Hernández expressed the great pride of La Palma in being chosen as the Host Town, and delegates were treated to folkloric dances and singing. Alex Barilla, an aquatics athlete with Special Olympics Guatemala, after leaving his handprint behind (see photo below) during one of the memorable Host Town activities. The following morning, a vibrant marching band led the delegations in a parade through town to the stadium, where delegations watched a football (soccer) exhibition match between the home team and a Special Olympics Latin America composite team, who played proudly before a filled stadium — and made La Palma work for their 3-2 victory! Delegates also enjoyed art activities, in this community celebrated for its folk art and murals, and learned firsthand about the local coffee- and sugar cane-growing industries. Looking beyond Host Town, La Palma will soon have its own local Special Olympics program. Thanks to a generous outreach grant from the Inter American Development Bank to further Special Olympics development in Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador, the spirit of the Host Town program in La Palma will be perpetuated in new sports opportunities for its citizens with intellectual disabilities and supported by townspeople whose attitudes were changed in March 2006 by athletes from all over Latin America.      < Return to main Latin America Regional Games page > page