
Photo
by: Greg Wolf
Before
going to bed, Eva whispers into Ailyn´s ear as she eats
potato chips. While her children were visiting, they all had
to sleep in the same bed in Eva´s one-room apartment.
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Eva Campillay
As
director of the basketball league, Eva Campillay is the foremost
spokesperson for what sports mean to the women of San Pedro.
"Playing
basketball is an opportunity for women to meet each other.
Men have always had something to do on Sunday afternoons.
Now women do too," she says.
Campillay
believes that the women of San Pedro use basketball to foster
self-reliability and to ease some of the stress in their over-burdened
lives.
Campillay
works full-time in a tourism office and is a single mother
with two daughters; her husband left her over five years ago.
These
difficulties in her personal life clearly inspire her play
and leadership in the basketball league. She understands how
sports help to develop the self-confidence needed to overcame
obstacles in life.
The
love for her two daughters, Katy (8) and Ailyn (6), is strained
by distance. They live with Campillay´s mother in Vallenar,
more than a 1000 kilometers from San Pedro.
Nevertheless,
her daughters visit San Pedro during breaks in school. At
these times, they are always by her side, seemingly attached
to her hip, constantly asking for their mother´s attention.
Campillay
always has a hug for them, even when she´s working or
in the middle of a basketball game.
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