We have said it before and we will say it a million times more, our students are THE driving force of Fish for Change and every value we aspire to. One of our main goals with Fish for Change is to create experiences that are not financially prohibitive. Each summer, 40% of our students come to programs on scholarships. Our scholarship program is essential to our mission of allowing kids from all backgrounds to experience F4C!

Lorant Verebelyi is a 15 year old from Hungary and Belgium. He attended our Guanaja, Honduras program this past summer on a scholarship. For Lorant, fishing has always been a special activity, and it has shaped his perspective on life. It has always been a way for him to find peace, and it has been a dream for him to be able to fly fish abroad. He hoped that this trip would help him to open up and interact with more people. English is not Lorant’s first language, and simply speaking english pushes him out of his comfort zone, let alone traveling to an entirely new environment! Lorant’s experience in Honduras was above and beyond all expectations that he had. Lorant is an excellent writer and was able to put the Fish for Change experience into words wonderfully. Here are a couple pieces of his writing :

“Before the trip, I felt excited and hopeful. I was looking forward to the fishing, meeting new people, and improving my social skills. I was just open to whatever would come. Now, in this exact moment, I feel deeply grateful. This experience gave me a kind of energy I didn’t even realize I was missing - a mix of positivity, confidence, and boldness. It shifted something in me. I’m still carrying that Guanaja energy, and I hope I can hold on to it as I go forward.”
“The most memorable moment from this trip was probably sleeping under the stars on the little island we camped on. It was the perfect way to end such a fun and full day. I remember lying there, thinking how crazy it was - to be all the way in Guanaja, on the other side of the planet, on this tiny island, just lying on the beach and staring up at the stars. It felt surreal.”​

“We started wading the flats at low tide - just me and one of the guides. The fishing was really tough. The bonefish were spooky, wary, and not in the mood to feed. But despite the conditions, I experienced something I’ve been waiting for since I was a little kid. The kind of thing you keep waiting for without even knowing exactly what it is. Well, I found it. I was truly fishing with someone. Sure, I’ve fished with other people before - but this was different. It felt pure, focused. We were both just there - casting, watching, moving. There was no room for anything else. It was just two humans and some fish to be caught. 
With Kevin, my guide, it felt like something deeper - almost ancient. Time slowed down. Everything outside the flats faded away. Out there, it was just us and the fish, suspended in a kind of frozen stream of time. A rare, unforgettable type of connection.” 

When asked what he would tell future F4C students, Lorant said, “This is the kind of experience you can’t really mess up - but if you truly invest yourself in it, it can turn into something meaningful.”


Let Lorant be inspiration for all of us to get out of our comfort zones and give it our all. Watching students from three different countries come together with a shared passion is what it is all about! Fly fishing is an ice breaker between different worlds. Many conversations took place comparing and contrasting each other’s home realities and holding space for understanding that we are not so different after all.
We are so grateful to have gotten to know Lorant this past summer!