INTER CAMPUS: SECOND VISIT TO MEXICO CITY

MEXICO CITY – From the air Mexico City seems to spread out endlessly: a vast highland 2,200 metres above sea level, a blur of lights for as far as the eye can see… And to think that many years ago this area was an enormous lake. Since then this boundless city has been inhabited by the Aztecs, the Spanish and the French. A land of war and of revolutions, which have left their mark on the character of the Mexican people and helped blend together different colours and races – something you can still see as you walk about the streets but also on the football pitch.

Making their second visit to Mexico City this year, Inter Campus continued their work with the callejeros (street kids) hosted and cared for in the Tepito quarter by the Fundaciòn Renacimiento. These children train with those from the indigenous Triqui population housed in shantytowns. Silvio and Gabriele, the coaches who travelled from Italy for this second visit, monitored the 40 boys and girls training on the Deportivo Venustiano Carranza pitch and worked alongside local instructors Fernando, Adan, Oscar and Omar, who are running the training sessions with increasing confidence.

From the capital we travelled to Queretaro by bus. There we had four days of theoretical and practical training courses for local coaches. We were welcomed and put up by the tireless Marcelline Sisters and immediately made to feel at home again. Some of the nuns are Italian, many more are Mexican, and thanks to these women for the last eight years the Inter Campus project involving children from the impoverished quarters of Unidad Nacional in Bolaños has been possible. Initially it involved about forty kids who would come to play on the pitch at the Marcelline Sisters’ school once a week, on Saturdays. Ernesto has always been there: as well as being el Profe (their P.E. teacher), he offers regular coaching to the children showing dedication and professionalism.

The number of children and the frequency of training have increased in the last two years. During our most recent visit, a new group of 25 girls coached by Karla, a young university student, received their Nerazzurri kits and joined in the activities with 85 young boys. Two new ‘satellite’ groups have been set up: one in the Girasol school in the Barrio quarter of Unidad Nacional, coached by Vantory, Jorge, Karla and Hugo; the other, with around 25 children, on the Bolaños pitch under the supervision of Juan Pablo and David.

The days passed all too quickly and before we knew it the children were waving goodbye to us. We hadn’t even left yet and we could see in their eyes, and in our own, that the wait for the next Inter Campus visit had already begun.

28.02.2012