More than 100 children and young people participated in María Elena Veranea 2024

More than one hundred local children and teens were part of the “María Elena Veranea 2024” program, a free initiative to promote sports and recreation in the district of María Elena.

Promoted by MES with support from SQM and the municipality, the program targeted children and young people between the ages of 4 and 18. At the camp, they were able to develop their talents and hone social and personal skills through recreational and experiential learning activities.

Leonor González, Head of Pampa Community Affairs for SQM, commented, “As a company we are very happy to be able to share with the community this shared social value related to sustainability. Thanks to strategic alliances with the municipality, which provided us with facilities to carry out the activities, we were able to make this summer fun for the kids.

Workshops on swimming, water gymnastics and recreational games, soccer and cooking were offered for a month in the Pampan district. The professionals leading the workshops also took the opportunity to address topics like healthy eating, personal hygiene, among others.

Mario González, territorial and community manager for the MES Program, explained, “For this exciting summer program, MES, with support from SQM, was looking for fun, healthy workshops to get the children out of their homes. This activity is an example of the innovative programming we are bringing to the territory to build a new future in the pampas.”

2024 CLOSING CEREMONY

The closing ceremony for the “María Elena Veranea” program was held at the municipal swimming pool. It featured recreational activities and an awards ceremony, and was attended by representatives of SQM, MES and parents, who saw firsthand the participants’ new skills in the different recreational activities.

Jonathan Parra, a Pampa native and parent of a participating student, remarked, “I had never seen this type of activity before. It is a beautiful and innovative experience for the children, who enjoyed sports and cooking.”

Workshop participant Dhillanee Rosas said, “In the cooking workshop, we learned how to make food and desserts, while in the swimming workshop, I learned to swim and do endurance work. I really enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun.”

Finally, Valentina Ligeron, another workshop participant, said, “I think these workshops were very fun, because I learned to swim, to cook, I was able to meet new friends and play with them, so I had a really great time. Hopefully they will do it again next year.”