The war in Ukraine, meanwhile, continues to cause destruction and pain. More than 14 million people need emergency aid to survive. Specifically, according to international agencies such as OCHA (United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs) four million have been displaced, six million have fled the country, more than five million children have stopped going to school... These figures will only get worse if the war does not end soon.
Faced with this situation, therefore, Misiones Salesianas and the Real Madrid Foundation have joined forces to improve the living conditions of children and young people. Thanks to the support of the European Union, two new socio-sports schools will be opened in Vynnyky and Zhytomyr, aimed at children affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Both schools will start the school year with a total of 220 children and young people between the ages of 5 and 17. Registration is already open and the goal is to create a safe space for children and their families to learn the values, practice sports and receive the psychosocial support they need, thanks to the support of European funds.
In addition to children and young people participating in socio-sports schools, the project will also provide educational and psychosocial support in three centres located in the Lviv region, with workshops and activities aimed at strengthening resilience and trauma management. In this way, more than 1,300 people will benefit from this project.
"Football is my biggest dream and when I train I feel happy," explains Kajetan, a ten-year-old boy who had to leave Ukraine after the start of the war and who now attends the socio-sports school in Elk (Poland). Thanks to sport, he has rediscovered his childhood, as will the children and young people of the new schools in Vynnyky and Zhytomyr.
During the more than two years of war, Salesian missionaries have stood by the people and supported thousands of people. In 2023 alone, Misiones Salesianas sent €440,000 to finance projects and activities aimed at alleviating the situation of victims and people affected by the war.
The collaboration between the Madrid Mission Office and the Real Madrid Foundation began in 2010, with the aim of opening schools in the countries where we work with the most vulnerable children and young people. There are already 22 socio-sports schools, in 15 countries on three continents, where more than 4,500 children and young people receive assistance.
Source: Misiones Salesianas
