Zumba unites multiethnic youths in Novo Brdo

Photo By Staff Sgt. Jerry Boffen | Spc. Emilio Rivera, Coamo, Puerto Rico, personnel service clerk, 92nd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Puerto Rico National Guard, leads a group of local students and Multinational Battle Group East soldiers from the stage during a Zumba session at a community center in Novo Brdo, Kosovo, Oct. 23. Rivera teaches Zumba classes to Multinational Battle Group East soldiers on Camp Bondsteel and brought his class to the Novo Brdo municipality as part of a community outreach program between MNBG E and the municipality. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jerry Boffen, 130th Public Affairs Detachment)  

NOVO BRDO, KOSOVO

10.31.2010

Story by Sgt. Jerry Boffen 

130th Public Affairs Detachment

NOVO BRDO, Kosovo - Soldiers from Multinational Battle Group East joined children from the Novo Brdo municipality for a ZumbaR dance fitness session at a community center here, Oct. 23.

Zumba is a fitness program that was created by dancer and choreographer "Beto" Perez in Colombia during the 1990s. The program combines Latin and international music with dance in an effort to make exercise fun.

The program has recently gained large popularity among soldiers on Camp Bondsteel, and members of MNBG E's 192nd Liaison Monitoring Team decided to bring the sensation to some of the local children.

"In Camp Bondsteel, everybody has been talking about Zumba," said Capt. Luis Garcia, Paquila, Puerto Rico, officer in charge of LMT 2, "and we thought it would be great to bring it out here to the kids."

Garcia said that, in addition to giving the children something fun to do, the event was also a chance to set an example for the multiethnic children of the area.

"In MNBG East we have people from all different countries and ethnic backgrounds working together," said Garcia, a member of the Puerto Rico National Guard, "and this shows the people here that they can all come together, despite their ethnicity. In this case, it's through music. We even have a language barrier, but today we came together through the international language: music."

More than 75 children showed up for the event, which was a collaborative effort between members of MNBG E and the municipality. In addition to the strong turnout, the group had a mixture of ethnicities, with Albanian, Serbian and Roma children all participating.

"I think an event like this is very important for our municipality, because it brings the Serbian and Albanian kids of our municipality together and shows them that they can work together," said Goran Simijonovic, a community leader from Straza/Strazhe, a town within the Novo Brdo/Novo Berde municipality. "It would be great if KFOR continued to do more activities like this in this area and in other areas in the future."

The session lasted approximately 75 minutes and was led by Spc. Emilio Rivera, Coamo, Puerto Rico, personnel service clerk, Task Force Falcon, MNBG E, who has been leading Zumba classes at Camp Bondsteel since shortly after arriving in Kosovo in July.

"This was great," Rivera said. "The kids had a good time, we had a good time and we all got some exercise. I'm glad we were able to come together and do this for them."

There is currently a similar event being planned for early November. Garcia, Rivera and most of the other MNBG E Soldiers said that they would love to continue to do activities like this for the local children.

• Date Taken: 10.31.2010
• Date Posted: 10.31.2010 14:34
• Story ID: 59184
• Location: NOVO BRDO, ZZ