British actor Ralf Little has just returned from visiting Rio de Janeiro’s notorious City of God, where the Action Aid charity are currently working on their project ‘1Goal’. Having visited Rio myself, the area really is one of the most amazing places I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing, yet the close proximity of the rich and the poor is quite astounding. In the area of Ipanema you can be stood outside Louis Vuitton, yet no less than two blocks away is the entrance to a favela, which is governed by it’s own people and is a complete police no go area. On the beaches you can see the children of the rich play next to the street kids who have nothing but the shirt on their back. It truly is amazing, yet at the same time heartbreaking.
Ralf visited a favela and had the opportunity to see first hand the scale of the problem in this sprawling urban area. Up to 65,000 residents have just one secondary school and health centre between them, yet still manage to continue with their day to day life with a smile on their face. The children especially take a lot of joy from football, with many of the Brazil national team brought up in slum conditions yet manage to break free and rule the world.
The project he visited is the Action Aid supported Centre for Education and Cultural Actions (CEACC). This project allows children a safe place to play and a chance to learn new skills like computing, football and capoeira. Ralf, an ex semi pro footballer and recent player in the UNICEF UK Soccer Aid event, knows the importance of this project, especially with the World Cup currently dominating the screens of homes across the planet.
With the next World Cup taking place in Brazil in 2014, Action Aid has managed to make a connection between this year’s event and education through sport, which can only help raise the public’s awareness in the battle to help tackle poverty.
Ralf said –
It just takes one kick to score a goal and one little act of kindness to change these kids’ lives.
