Gill, Urbano, José Felipe, Melisa, Teresa, Bisila ... are just some of the children who benefit from the socio-sports school project carried out in collaboration between the Real Madrid Foundation and the Salesians of Malabo. This school, in fact, is one of the 21 socio-sports schools opened in 14 countries on three continents since this alliance between the Salesian Mission Office "Misiones Salesianas" of Madrid and the institution of the "Los Blancos".
From Monday to Friday, students go to the “Don Bosco” school in Malabo to wear their uniforms and participate in sports and recreational activities specially designed for them. Through playing football and basketball they learn the values of team play, but also improve their eating habits, hygiene and academic performance.
For kids, sport is an outlet and a means of socialization that helps them develop on a human and educational level. Mayoka is a 16-year-old girl who plays basketball in the “Don Bosco” school in Malabo: “What I like most is the joy and the atmosphere of camaraderie between us. They help us with our studies and we really enjoy learning the sport we like; indeed, we wouldn't mind if it were every day of the week!”
During the school year, at the institute, the goal in the first quarter is to get to know the participants and explain the activities, with friendly tournaments. In the second quarter, the emphasis is on training the coaches and supporting the project beneficiaries in the studies, through reinforcement lessons.
Last year, the pandemic stopped all activities due to the mandatory lockdown decreed by the government starting in March. However, the school continued to operate online, accompanying children and their families with advice on how to prevent contagion and awareness talks and proper hygiene.
This year the activities continue according to the limits of capacity and all necessary preventive measures: use of masks during tutoring, disinfecting hands before entering the playing field or in any activity organized by the school and measuring the temperature of the participants before they enter the sports complex.
What does not change, despite the circumstances, in the socio-sports schools of the Real Madrid Foundation is the joy and the motto that benefits thousands of vulnerable children all over the world: “They play, we educate”.
