My

Story

Samuel

“I am from El Tarra, a ‘red zone’ that has been marked by war and conflict. Often there are armed fights during the day and the night. And sometimes, people end up getting hurt because of these clashes. Because of this, El Tarra is also a place that has many displaced people due the harm done in our country, many families had to leave their homes. I myself am a victim of armed conflict, I am displaced, just like many of my colleagues, too. Due to its proximity to the border, many Venezuelans come here, too. For them, El Tarra has been a place of refuge, a place from where they can come and work from afar to provide for their families.

However, the youth here are very resilient and with our work at the Foundation G2-10, we want to try and get them out of this violent environment. We work with the children, adolescents and youth in our community, kids that come from low income-households as well as those from displaced families.

I really like working with them, I’m very passionate to see the results from when the children first arrive: Often they have problems at home, with discipline and swearing etc., and seeing the process of them learning principles, values and life skills through the sport and then seeing how these results come about – that these children will change – this is very satisfactory. This also motivates me to continue working and do my activities in the best way possible.

This is also why the Young Coach Education is really helpful. Football is a global sport, universal, and generally it is the sport that is most played here in El Tarra. So it is a good way to help us impact and reach the children. I want to apply and implement what I have learnt here with the children and also with other leaders in my municipality, because there are a lot who work on the social side, and this is what is most important: the social aspect, the educational aspect. Because before we can form football players, we need to form humans with integrity first.

The education has also connected us to other colleagues from different parts of the country and we got the opportunity to learn about their situations and history and we realised, that we are not the only ones that want this change. So the purpose now is to get back and share this information, this methodology with other people, so they can do the same. Because this is why we are here, to serve, to help – and I want to give my help there, where I am, in El Tarra.”