Life skills + Soccer for 350 boys in Brazil

The year has started very strongly for our boys soccer project with classes returning on January 10th and we currently have 7 different classes running on three different community hard courts. Later this month we are going to start new classes in partnership with local schools in order to increase our offer and enable more children to have access to regular exercise, something that had been missing from many children's lives through the pandemic. On Friday, March 10th, the World Day to Combat Sedentarism is celebrated. Created by the World Health Organization (WHO), the date was established with the purpose of raising awareness of the consequences of the lack of physical exercises, and this is an important focus for us. 

Here is an interview with one of the children, 12 year old André showing how important our programme is for him and his healthy development: What kind of food do you eat at home? A banana for breakfast, carbohydrates and animal protein in small amounts for lunch and various fruits for dinner. Have you learned about food and exercise in school before? I never had a class about food and exercise at school. What do you like most about this program? The collective spirit and interactions with other students. What did you learn during these activities/trainings? To be more patient.  Have you learned about healthy eating? Tell us what you remember. The Child Protection Manager, Andressa Silva, gave a workshop on the importance of breakfast as the first meal of the day and the importance of eating fruit and drinking water. Do you think you could improve your diet? How? Yes. Going to the doctor for professional follow-up with a nutritionist to help with weight loss. Why is regular physical activity important? For body fat loss and for making friends, socializing. Does your family have a healthy diet and practice regular physical activity? What would you say to your family about this? More or less. At home, there are no good examples of healthy eating and exercise. If you told your family and friends what we do here, what would you tell them? I would tell them to make an appointment with a nutritionist so that everyone in the family has a healthier diet.

With your generous support we shall continue to have a positive impact on ever more boys' lives.