"If you can dream it, you can do it"
Yoga Pura Vida Foundation (YPVF) was born from the arduous personal work of it’s creator, Dharmajyoti (Marcelo) and of the collaboration of many good people who helped him during his journey.
The idea of this project was born in an Indian ashram. The inspiration was to initiate the Yoga Pura Vida movement, with the purpose of sharing the yogic culture and lifestyle with the most vulnerable and less privileged people of society.
The first project observed yoga activities conducted in Kikoke, Tanzania - a small coastal village with a population of 700. Yoga classes and talks were conducted with a group of adults. Yoga, music and dance activities were conducted with a group of children.
The first stage of the training consisted of 50 hours per week, over a 6 month period. The second stage involved personal self-practice of 21 hours per week for another 6 month period.
The NGO Yoga Pura Vida was created in Tanzania. For the first project, two teachers travelled to the city of Arusha where they received instruction in computer skills and English, and then they started to work as yoga instructors for children, eventually becoming self-sufficient.
The first Teacher Training Course (Yoga for Children) was organized with scholarships granted to 7 participants from different villages and cities in Tanzania. Five other participants joined from the USA, Holland, Germany and France.
New projects are still being carried out in different cities and villages of Tanzania. Each project is implemented within the framework of its own context; taking Yoga to impoverished neighbourhoods and villages, to private and state schools, to orphanages, and several NGOs.
The second Teacher Training Course (Yoga for Children) was organized. Scholarships were given to 25 participants coming from different cities of Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, a Congolese refugee resident of the Dzaleka Camp in Malawi, and one participant from the USA. In this way, the movement Yoga Pura Vida is being introduced in different African Countries.
We have organized free yoga courses for our resident instructors in Tanzania, Uganda and in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi. We have trained two new instructors, giving them the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and experience in yoga. Also taking shape was the preliminary steps to transform the NGO into a Foundation.
Beyond our evolution into a Foundation, “Yoga Pura Vida” still continues to be a movement of service built upon clear ideas and a lot of love. For 8 years we have been transforming African societies through silent, smooth, yet profound actions - all inspired by the masters of different traditions of yoga. These masters have been working for thousands of years with great effort, commitment and determination for the betterment of human beings and the planet.