GATHERINGS AND HELP OF THE DIVINE VARIETY IN ANGOLA

News from the Inter Campus course in Luanda for the Angolan coaches and a group of children who had a fun week camping

LUANDA – Viana is the name of a gothic part of Barcelona but also a tourist destination in Portugal complete with a castle. The Viana that we’re talking about is in the outskirts of Luana, Angola and it’s certainly not very touristy. The expanding city has already reached with houses and unpaved roads that turn to dust in the dry season and mud when it’s wet. There are also shacks built years ago by Salesian missionaries to house those aspiring to follow religion.

In this oasis of relative tranquility in the busy district, Inter Campus held a week-long development course for the 40 coaches/teachers who make up the project, from the capital Luanda and the rural branches in Dondo and Calulo further inland. Every branch of Inter Campus has brought along some children so that they can spend a week together camping where they get to know each other, play together and train under the coaches Silvio Guareschi and Fabio Perfetti who made the trip from Italy.

Two of these children’s mothers offered to prepare meals during the week and they showed great strength and perseverance to keep 60 hungry youngsters fed. The local teachers are former Inter Campus kids who have since grown up and started to look after the younger ones in the project who took part in a technical, theoretical and practical course that was split between the new faces and the seniors.

The kindly Father William da Lima who is responsible for the Polidesportivo Dom Bosco has always supported our work with great enthusiasm and as a Brazilian, he feels compelled to tell us he’s a Corinthians fan. For years, he’s helped to keep children off the street and away from illegal activities, pushing them towards regular school attendance.

As with the teachers, he received a certificate of participation in the course as recognition for his years of work. But it wasn’t free! In return, we ask him to recommend us to saint Mama Muxima who protects Angola. With this, we leave again ready to take on a new season of activity with Inter Campus. Até logo, Luanda!

27.08.2018