Shining World Compassion Award Recipient: Vegan Power Athlete – The Perseverant Game Changer

Belsen Mata, the founder of Vegan Power Athlete, decided to take on the challenge of changing a common misconception about the dietary requirements of a high-performance sportsperson. After spending time with an animal-people activist group, she teamed up with like-minded athletes to prove to the public that a plant-based diet is a key to fitness and a healthy muscle mass.

The team has participated in several races and sporting events, where their performance levels have been noticed. This has been an eye-opener for many, including medical practitioners. “The mission, then, was to be an example to other people, to tell them that through our sports, to those different guilds, whether it be cyclists, gymnasts, or swimmers, to that guild, I express to that guild or show them that it is extremely easy to be a vegan and an athlete at the same time, and that they are not going to have any health problems.”

“The project I have right now, it's similar. My colleagues are going to come anyway from Vegan Power Athlete, to do classes, give conferences. It's true that its name is V Green Festival, whose motto is: ‘United for a better world.’ What it’s about is raising awareness through art, through gastronomy, through dance, everything. Trying to make people aware, not only for one aspect but for several, for the planet, for health, for animals, because in the end, we are all on this planet.”

Upon hearing about the team’s altruistic efforts, our Most Beloved Supreme Master Ching Hai: “Gratefully present Vegan Power Athlete group, the Shining World Compassion Award with all love, appreciation, and best wishes for your kind acts to share the vegan way of living. May the Heavens forever bless and protect you and your loved ones.”

“I would like to tell Supreme Master Ching Hai that I really thank Her with all my heart for everything She does, and I admire Her. I would like to be like Her. I would like to have that strength to move forward, work for a better world, and fight for the animals in any way I can.”