Do you know why GiraCatavento is called GiraCatavento?
In 2023, when our founder Adriana went on a mission to Timor-Leste for the first time, she noticed a significant difficulty in communicating with the children. She knew little Tetum, and they did not respond to Portuguese. She always needed someone to translate her instructions.
Adriana had the idea of making paper pinwheels with the children so they could not only run and have fun but also practice their fine motor skills by making the pinwheel and their gross motor skills when running.
After the pinwheels were made, it was time to run to spin the pinwheel. Adriana instructed the children “Spin the Pinwheel! Spin the Pinwheel!” (which is “Gira o Catavento!” in Portuguese – Gira means spin and Catavento means pinwheel) and it was the first time she noticed that her instruction in Portuguese had been understood!
When we created GiraCatavento, Adriana knew that this was the name the Association had to have.
In our 2025 mission, we also decided to carry out the pinwheel activity, which went very well. The children had a lot of fun! And for us, it warms our hearts to see their pure joy. Now look at the photos and videos:
