Social entities are a fundamental pillar in Asia-Pacific, where confinement worsens the situation of the most vulnerable.
The social entities with which the Real Madrid Foundation carries out its social-sports projects to assist young people at risk of exclusion throughout the world are particularly affected by COVID-19. For this reason, they have adapted their activity to continue caring for the beneficiaries and their families, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. The Foundation’s collaborators, aligned with the values of the entity, are mobilized inside and outside Spain to cover the basic needs of the most vulnerable beneficiaries, for whom confinement aggravates their precarious situation.
In Asia-Pacific, social partners from Cambodia, India, and the Philippines continue to be a fundamental pillar for their communities these days. In the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang (Cambodia), where the school is run in collaboration with the NGO SAUCE (Solidarity, Aid, and Union Create Hope) and the support of GFM (Global Football Management), the students who have not been able to return home are cared for by the school staff in the hands of Bishop Kike Figaredo S.J. For them, this means staying in what is truly their home. In addition to their safety and health, they are guaranteed that they can continue to learn.
India
In the case of the Indian Institute of Mothers and Children (IIMC) in Calcutta City, its entire team, together with local leaders and authorities, the legislature, and police authorities, have organized the distribution of essential materials and food to the families of precarious workers and homeless people. A total of 150 families benefit from this distribution on a weekly basis. In addition, part of the food arrives at the homes of the students of the Kheadah school, which is being developed in partnership with the IIMC and collaborating with the Real Madrid Foundation and Roadis. This is a project in which under normal circumstances they enjoy their educational sport, health care, and food activities.
“The Foundation monitors the situation in the countries where it develops projects and schools.”
In the Philippines, Anakk Santa Cruz, a partner in the Davao Island schools, which are being developed with the support of the Mapfre Foundation, is distributing bags of food as emergency aid to the neediest families. In addition, in the schools attended by students from the Roxas Foundation’s social-sports schools, teachers and coaches are carrying out voluntary actions to disinfect the classrooms.
Monitoring
The Real Madrid Foundation is closely monitoring the evolution of the alarm situation in the more than 80 countries in which social and sports projects and schools, as well as clinics or campuses, are developed each year and in which more than 100,000 beneficiaries participate. At present, these can only continue their training in values and sport telematically and in more than 50% of cases, when activities are suspended, they are also deprived of the schooling, health care or nutritional support that make up these comprehensive projects.