Case study
“El deporte tiene el poder de transformar el mundo” (ang. “Sport has the power to transform the world” – Nelson Mandela) claims a sign hanging at the entrance of the Peruvian Sport Institute.
A powerful, universal message that unites everyone. These words echoed in my mind throughout my visit in Peru.
I started as an expert in sport and non-formal education, thanks to the Capacity Building Youth – Erasmus+ project “Inclusion through sport”, promoted by the NGO MineVaganti along with four other organisations from 4 different continents.
An incredible experience, thanks to which I could get close to sport organizations and volunteers in Lima: I have touched their daily work with youth and I have been able to experiment with some training activities related to movement and sport, dedicated to different groups of children and teenagers from really disadvantaged environment.
My aim was to offer simple, intuitive and engaging activities. I didn’t know what I would have found: what materials, what kind of space, what kind of boys and what context. I knew that none of the boys would speak English, and I didn’t speak Spanish. Mentally I had prepared two or three activities, which I would have adapted to the conditions and context.
Ready… Go! The language challenge was overcome, at least partly, improvising in Italian/Esperanto and getting some help from local people when necessary. Start of the activities was chaotic as happens often (kids would think “who are you? What do you want from us? Why should we play this?”) but the children slowly, one by one understood the rules and the objectives, they dared to leave their comfort zone, became confident and entered in the game, having fun like never before.
What happened was incredible: 45 kids from a favela of Lima, with nothing else but a ball, in a hot March afternoon created something magical.
Commitment, enthusiasm, interest and lots of fun… for more than an hour, they challenged themselves in games and non-formal education activities connected to sport. An incredible result once again confirms how the methodology that we at the L’ORMA have been using for years training youth is both effective and engaging. Above all because, if supported by a well-structured conclusive reflection, it generates immediacy of learning.
“El deporte tiene el poder de transformar el mundo”. Now more than ever before we are ready to bring our contribution, in Italy and in the world.
