Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 1: January 2014 | Page 33

offers a chance to practice English—a skill that can take them far. But there are problems as well. Parsu has seen first-hand the issues that can arise when kids work in the landing zone. “They sometimes start skipping school and wind up going down the wrong road,” he remarks. “It can damage their life.” To counter this, some pilots opt to hire only older guys to fold their gliders. Parsu doesn’t want his son to miss out on a well-rounded education. He reaches over and calms him. “First, he has to go to school,” he explains. I left Parsu’s house and walked to the bus, which shuttled me back to the other world of the Lakeside district, the touristy La-La Land where I would fly, drink, and never complain about paying Parsu 40-some cents to have my glider folded. Christina Ammon can be reached at The Crash Pad at Woodrat Mountain, Oregon. [email protected] Folding in Valle de Bravo If Pokhara, Nepal, is a flying mecca of the East, then Valle de Bravo is its Western equivalent. Valle, however, has an even longer tradition of kids working in the landing zone—starting with hang gliders back in 1978! By looking at Valle, we can more easily assess the effects of this industry on children. Pilot Miguel Gutierrez, one of the pioneers of free flight in Valle, offers a long view: “The good effects are that some become professional pilots and find a way to make a living in this magnificent sport. They have the motivation and opportunity to move out of poverty.” Emmanuel Guadarrama and Ramon Mercado both started their flying careers by folding gliders and have now moved on to become some of the best pilots in Mexico. Other gilder folders have become shuttle drivers and eventually trained to become tandem pilots: five of the 35 tandem pilots in Valle got their start in this way. But Gutierrez has concerns. In some cases, the kids skip school and do not get a basic education. “Sometimes they cannot answer the theoretical questions of a P-1 paragliding exam,” he laments. Lack of education can also lead to poor business practices, such as under-selling services. But the worst effect is on safety. If pilots cannot explain procedures to passengers, or follow the safety rules, they are setting a bad example for the future kids in Mexico. Gutierrez and his wife, Claudia, run an adventure company called Alas del Hombre and want to get more involved with the kids’ education. They hope to recruit pilot participation. “In Mexico, it’s common to help poor people— especially street kids—but at this time, we cannot find a well-organized pilot community to provide assistance for our program.” HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE 33