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In shadow of Brazil World Cup, a nonprofit builds fields of hope
RIO DE JANEIRO — From afar, the Complexo do Alemão favela looks like Legos dropped from the sky, a mountain of small building blocks stacked one atop another in no discernible pattern. With an estimated population of at least 100,000 people, the favela is one of Rio’s largest. Historically, it has also been one of its most dangerous.
The endless maze of small boxy homes and narrow pathways is located about 5 ½ miles from the famed Maracana stadium, site of the World Cup’s title match Sunday. But soccer isn’t that far away. In fact, it’s never been closer.
A nonprofit co-founded by Washington native Drew Chafetz is responsible for the favela’s giant year-old soccer field with red fencing wrapping around the perimeter. At the same time Brazil’s municipal governments and soccer officials scrambled to construct and refurbish a dozen World Cup stadiums, Chafetz and his modest outfit have been busy building their own fields around Brazil, working with considerably smaller budgets and with sights set on an impact that will continue to be felt long after this World Cup.
...Growing up in Chevy Chase, Chafetz and his family traveled extensively. Even as a young boy, he saw what soccer meant to children all over the world. He attended Maret School and then played soccer in college, first at Dickinson College and then the University of Colorado. He was 23 and studying abroad when he spotted some kids playing soccer in a dangerous alley in Morocco. That planted the seed for love.fútbol, which he co-founded in 2006.
...Chafetz held a fundraiser at Lucky Bar in Washington’s Dupont Circle neighborhood, raised $700 and flew to Guatemala, where he saw a huge need for safer fields. Kids were playing barefoot in trash dumps; fields butted against open sewage ditches; pitches were cluttered with broken glass and shards of metal. To reach some fields, children had to walk miles or cross dangerous roads.
Relying on the support of corporate sponsors and community partners, the organization built nine fields in Guatemala. The fields are different dimensions. Some have grass, some are cement, some dirt. Costs range from $40,000 to $70,000, but the land is typically donated from the local municipality, the materials from sponsors and the labor from the community members themselves — a key component, Silva said.
...As love.fútbol prepared to expand into Brazil in 2011, it revisited the Guatemalan fields to measure impact. The group interviewed more than 180 community members, teachers and parents. Nearly all said that since the fields opened children were active, four in five reported improved academic performances and 70 percent said drug abuse and gang activity had declined...
More at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/in-shadow-of-brazil-world-cup-a-nonprofit-builds-fields-of-hope/2014/07/11/c8fa3078-093b-11e4-ba5b-b9d8a4daba13_story.html?tid=hpModule_c7c1f590-868f-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394
The endless maze of small boxy homes and narrow pathways is located about 5 ½ miles from the famed Maracana stadium, site of the World Cup’s title match Sunday. But soccer isn’t that far away. In fact, it’s never been closer.
A nonprofit co-founded by Washington native Drew Chafetz is responsible for the favela’s giant year-old soccer field with red fencing wrapping around the perimeter. At the same time Brazil’s municipal governments and soccer officials scrambled to construct and refurbish a dozen World Cup stadiums, Chafetz and his modest outfit have been busy building their own fields around Brazil, working with considerably smaller budgets and with sights set on an impact that will continue to be felt long after this World Cup.
...Growing up in Chevy Chase, Chafetz and his family traveled extensively. Even as a young boy, he saw what soccer meant to children all over the world. He attended Maret School and then played soccer in college, first at Dickinson College and then the University of Colorado. He was 23 and studying abroad when he spotted some kids playing soccer in a dangerous alley in Morocco. That planted the seed for love.fútbol, which he co-founded in 2006.
...Chafetz held a fundraiser at Lucky Bar in Washington’s Dupont Circle neighborhood, raised $700 and flew to Guatemala, where he saw a huge need for safer fields. Kids were playing barefoot in trash dumps; fields butted against open sewage ditches; pitches were cluttered with broken glass and shards of metal. To reach some fields, children had to walk miles or cross dangerous roads.
Relying on the support of corporate sponsors and community partners, the organization built nine fields in Guatemala. The fields are different dimensions. Some have grass, some are cement, some dirt. Costs range from $40,000 to $70,000, but the land is typically donated from the local municipality, the materials from sponsors and the labor from the community members themselves — a key component, Silva said.
...As love.fútbol prepared to expand into Brazil in 2011, it revisited the Guatemalan fields to measure impact. The group interviewed more than 180 community members, teachers and parents. Nearly all said that since the fields opened children were active, four in five reported improved academic performances and 70 percent said drug abuse and gang activity had declined...
More at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/in-shadow-of-brazil-world-cup-a-nonprofit-builds-fields-of-hope/2014/07/11/c8fa3078-093b-11e4-ba5b-b9d8a4daba13_story.html?tid=hpModule_c7c1f590-868f-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394