Schools in Porto Alegre lack funding for sports

In Porto Alegre, the capital city of Rio Grande do Sul, the dream of becoming a great football player is a popular conversation topic among a group of boys who go to practice with a twinkle in their eyes. In a state where fans are divided between two of the city’s major teams – Grêmio and Internacional – and admire such stars as Taffarel, Dunga and Ronaldinho Gaúcho, football is a vital part of the city’s everyday life.

We asked a 12-year-old boy what football is, and were very promptly answered: “It’s my future.” His father has been arrested and his mother doesn’t work. In order to survive, he relies on the help of his brothers, but he has not lost the hope for brighter days. With the upcoming World Cup in Brazil, his dreams for the future are more vivid than ever. However, he does not seem to understand very well what the international competition is, and complains about the traffic. “The street’s really bad, it’s a pain in the neck, you can’t even walk on it. But I’m glad I’ll meet a lot of people and get in touch with the teams, so I can go further and further.”

The child, who lives in a housing project on the outskirts of the city, he goes to football practice twice a week at Social Football Club, a project developed by 25 former football players from ten of Porto Alegre’s communities. In 2013 alone, the initiative benefited 1.3 thousand children. On rainy days, however, boys are unable to play the sport, since courts have no roofs and fill with mud.

In another neighborhood, children from the Ana Íris do Amaral Municipal School face the same problem. Teacher Marilice Marques Claus says that, on rainy days, physical education is suspended. For sports like volleyball, teachers have to make do with an indoor area they use as their football court.

Student Laura Beatriz, 14, says the space is not suitable for sports: “It’s nearly impossible to throw [the ball], it’s too low. A lot of students who were good at playing volleyball participated in championships. But the teacher has just retired. If the court were refurbished and we had a good teacher, our chances of having a future in volleyball would be much greater,” she noted.

The other side of the World Cup

As with other host cities, the greatest concern among educators is not only about children’s right to sport. Studies conducted in countries hosting large-scale sports events show the rise in child sex exploitation and human trafficking.

According to the city’s Secretariat of Tourism, Porto Alegre is estimated to receive 130 thousand visitors, 80 thousand of whom international. Many will come through the border the state shares with Uruguay and Argentina, and authorities are concerned with human trafficking on these borders, through which women and girls, the main victims of this crime, are brought into the country to be sexually exploited.

Alexia Meurer, coordinator for policies against human trafficking at the state’s Secretariat for Public Security, argues that it is hard to come up with exact figures: “We find it challenging even to identify victims, because they don’t see themselves as victims, as they took the job offer. But the victim’s consent doesn’t make perpetrators any less accountable for the crime, because the victim is deceived,” she explained.

Another problem affecting the city is the eviction of locals from areas undergoing construction for the World Cup, as was the case with residents from Vila Disque. In order to make the road to the airport twice as broad, families were resettled 30 km away from the area. The construction project, however, was never put into action.

Claudia Favaro, member of the World Cup Popular Committee, criticized the eviction process, “All the public equipment was taken to other community, and today 600 families remain under despairingly precarious conditions. There are no day-care centers, no health care stations, they’re left to their own devices.”

Resident Claudia Maria Alves agrees, “There were health care stations, day-care centers, everything, but not anymore. We have to arrive before seven in the morning to see a doctor in the neighboring community. I’ll fight to bring a health care station, a school. And there’s no day-care center here either, for mothers to keep working.”

Representatives from the World Cup Popular Committee estimate that over 7 thousand families have been threatened with eviction all over the city of Porto Alegre. The city government was contacted in order to confirm the figures and give clarifications, but declared instead that the question has been sent to the Secretariat of Management, which had not responded up to the publication of this report.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira