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Fundacion Carvajal Colombia

Fundación Carvajal, Colombia

Working in the neediest neighbourhoods, Fundación Carvajal has initiated a new sports-based educational programme in an underprivileged district in Buenaventura.

Working in the neediest neighbourhoods, Fundación Carvajal has initiated a new sports-based educational programme in an underprivileged district in Buenaventura.

(Programme concluded and no longer supported by the Trafigura Foundation)

Drawing on international resources, and now the support of the Trafigura Foundation, Carvajal has run extensive social and community development programmes in Colombia for over 50 years. The association has recently added a soccer component to its various youth-based initiatives, ‘Golazo’ (‘goal’ in Spanish), a scheme that promotes and reinforces strong, healthy values through sports.

This is a much-needed initiative in a difficult city where adolescents are often recruited into gangs and crime. Golazo offers an alternative, healthy, sports-led community in the form of after-school activities and home support via parents groups, too.

As well as keeping young kids off the streets and out of reach of crime and violence, once a month, the young teens have also access to a psychologist-led workshop where they are encouraged to discuss and re-frame their values.

The goal is to keep kids off the streets and action parental skills tutorials, dealing with topics such as discipline without violence. 7 community members were selected to become trainers in Parenting Skills. Participation has been excellent – last year, 240 families engaged in community activities and classes. Six young leaders were recruited, taking charge of 12 groups comprising 25 children, enjoying 3 training sessions per week. Workshops explored ‘responsibility’, ‘solidarity’ and ‘honesty’. This year, Golazo continues to transform lives, proving that simply kicking a ball around can foster friendship and respectful coexistence.

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