Zihua Sailfest Begins Today
"We built two new schools this year and have now built over 80 classrooms," says Zihuatanejo Sailfest spokesperson Pam Bendall. Since its inception a dozen years ago, this weeklong festival has focused on both fun on the water and fundraising. Through its affiliated nonprofit Por Los Niños, educated more than 6,000 children, according to Bendall, and it helps feed more than 30,000 people annually. With fundraising momentum building annually, Z-fest is now the most successful of all cruiser-funded charity events in Mexico, but much of the credit goes to expats in residence and regular visitors, some of whom make an annual pilgrimage to Z-town each winter to help organize, and participate in, Z-fest activities.
Why the need for classroooms? Por Los Niños’ efforts are primarily aimed at indigenous children from the barrios surrounding Zihuatanejo, many of whom do not speak Spanish. Primary education is free in Mexico, but you must be able to speak Spanish, so Por Los Niños funds early education of these kids in order to get them speaking the national tongue and get them ready for normal government-run classes.
Sail Fest begins tonight with a welcome dance party, followed by a live auction tomorrow, a pursuit race Wednesday, a chili cookoff and street faire Thursday, a parade of sail Friday, and finally a kids’ beach day Saturday.
It’s all great fun, and all proceeds go to a very deserving cause. Find more about the event here, and look for a post-fest report in the March edition of Latitude 38.