<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>During the interview, Bea remarked on the adaptations that most of 2020 ROLL models had to make due to the COVID-19 situation. In her case, they had to change the dates of the skate camp. Originally they wanted to carry it out during the summer vacation in July but restrictions at the time banned any kind of event, so they changed it to October Herfstvakantie vacation. This also allowed them to start the registration along with the school year and they could adapt the project to take into account the COVID-19 safety considerations and restrictions.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<blockquote>
<p><span><span><span><span><em><span>“I think that most projects created still continued to the end. It just kind of postponed a lot of the plans. We were supposed to do more things as part of the project as well, so that did not happen. It would have been nice to do the whole program with the leadership camp and everything, but I was still interested. Despite all we did, a lot of webinars, connected with each other, met all the ROLL models… we still managed to go through [with our projects], which is pretty impressive considering what happened. “</span></em></span></span></span></span></p>
</blockquote>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Bea mentioned that in the beginning she was a bit scared and worried about how everything was going to be regarding the changes she made into her project. She was wondering if the new dates she chose&nbsp;were appropriate to get enough participants because of vacations and lots of people moving from the city. She assumed that her initiative was not going to be something involving a lot of people, but she was happy because those who were involved were really motivated to participate and learn.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<blockquote>
<p><span><span><span><span><em><span>“My project was small, it was a bit difficult to get participants. It was in October and between the weather being a bit messy and the vacations, not everybody wanted to join. So at the beginning it was like ‘Oh no, this is going to be difficult, is not gonna go well…’ But I thought it was good because even if it was a small group of young adults participating, they were really into it. They were all beginners and they started to help each other up , they seemed to be really motivated to do the thing they were doing. They even created a Whatsapp group so they could go out and skate together. Really happy with it, that worked out!”&nbsp;</span></em></span></span></span></span></p>
</blockquote>

<p><br />
<span><span><span><span><span><span>One of the greatest strengths of ROLL Models program, which has become even more evident during C-19, is the relationship that has developed between the ROLL Models. Early on in the programme, Women Win and Skateistan also set-up a WhatsApp group in order to encourage the ROLL Models to get to know one another. Since then, they regularly communicate on this platform, offering support to one another, sharing successes and challenges, asking for advice&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span>and sending photos and videos of their projects. For Women Win and Skateistan, the consolidation of this group as a close-knit community has been one of the highlights of the program. Beatriz also supported that idea and says she found a lot of support and help from other participants and she also met those who were based in the Netherlands.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>When we asked Bea about her experience and learnings during the program, she added that she learned a lot about project planning, as well as aspects related to the self-management needed in order to achieve her goals. Besides this, the relationships she made during the experience meant a lot for her and she is deeply encouraged to continue moving forward.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<blockquote>
<p><span><span><span><span><em><span>“I learnt a lot of things. Of course organizing a project from scratch and learning how to deal with your strengths and weaknesses to achieve something you want to make happen. I learnt a lot about the social skateboarding world, met a lot of inspiring people… a lot! I absolutely want to continue on womxn leadership through skateboarding”</span></em></span></span></span></span></p>
</blockquote>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Nowadays, Bea is working as a part-time skateboard teacher at “</span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><em><span>Project Fearless”</span></em></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span>. Merida (Project Fearless’s founder) and Beatriz met each other during last year’s ROLL Models program as both were based in The Netherlands. This is about synergies – we love to see how the paths of different people with the same purpose come together.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
