05.12.2007 17:34
First results after a year of work
Marc Parramon (enviat especial)
FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta and the delegation from the club that are in Swaziland have visited two schools and Community Support Centres on Wednesday morning that have been financed by the club through the agreement Unicef.
The Blaugrana party had to be up bright and early to visit the different education centres in which
the club collaborate. At 9.30am, Laporta and his colleagues went to see the Zwide Primary School in
the small southern African state, where latrines have been built and a well that allows the
children at the school to have fresh drinking water without having to walk long distances to find
it, like that had to do a short time ago.
Sport for education
Thanks to the contribution of of FC Barcelona, the school is also developing a
programme that uses sport as an educational took to help integrate the children into th community
and to teach them to defend their rights.
At the school there are 224 children, 42 per cent of whom are orphans that have seen their
quality of life improve notably thanks to the support of Unicef and FC Barcelona.
Community support
Immediately afterwards, the Blaugrana delegation visited the Community Support Centres in
Nkambeni and Mbangarwe, just two of the 23 centres that the club has helped to build in Swaziland.
These centres receive around 60 boys and girls who have lost either one of both their parents and
are in a clear state of vulnerability. They are fed and offered education and health, as in many
cases, they are carrying the HIV virus. The Barça president was eager to discover the reality of
the children and made a private visit to three cabins to see how they live.
Musical greeting
At midday, the Barça party visited the school in Nkambeni, where they were made by an
orchestra containing children from the centre, that celebrated their arrival with glee. Laporta and
the members of the delegation presented trophies to the winners of football and netball tournament
before handing out some balls to the children.
Laporta meets Moses
Joan Laporta heard the story of nine-year-old Moses, who has lost both his mother and father. His
mum passed away when he was a baby, while his dad died soon after. Both of them were victims of
AIDS. Since then he has lived with his grandmother.
Moses also has the HIV virus, but thanks to the support of FC Barcelona, he has been able to
take antiretroviral drugs that can help save his life. He attends the Community Support Centre
every day and is said to be a good student. In fact, out of 37 students, he is the seventh most
qualified.
Moses is one of the main characters in the exhibition "The impact of HIV AIDS. Life and hopes
of the orphans of Swaziland."