Malta Ambassador to Brazil joins SiGMA Foundation for sports school inauguration
A powerful initiative combining MMA training with sports education was inaugurated this week at the newly launched Faculdade da Luta – a sports and educational centre designed to empower children living in Heliópolis, one of Brazil’s largest favelas.
The centre officially opened its doors on Monday, 7th, with His Excellency John Aquilina, Malta’s Ambassador to Brazil, joining representatives from the SiGMA Foundation and Centurion FC – key players in driving the project to fruition.
Speaking to SiGMA, Ambassador Aquilina highlighted the initiative’s power to save vulnerable children living in impoverished circumstances from slipping through the cracks and ending up on society’s scrap heap.
“This is a way of making sure that before they end up there we can turn their lives around. This is a wonderful thing to happen — we can’t have enough of these opportunities.”
“It aims to make lives better and there can’t be a better objective in life. This project happened because good-minded people had good ideas about making lives better.”
He went on to give credit to Eman Pulis for his vision to help, saying he thinks of young people not just here in Brazil, but around the world, who, through the Foundation’s initiatives, are able to get better opportunities in life.
The Ambassador later met with some of the children who had turned up to see the project launched. His Excellency is also attending the BiS SiGMA Americas conference and expo this week, where he will join the founders on stage for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The launch of the sports school was joined by SiGMA Group founder, Eman Pulis, Centurion FC CEO and founder, Roberto Gallo, and Foundation Chief Philanthropy Officer, Keith Marshall.
In the words of Roberto Gallo, the school aims to switch the negative into positive, delivering tools that bring a 360-degree skill set – including a mixture of MMA, female-led self-defence classes, boxing, wrestling, and jujitsu, to classes on sports marketing, nutrition, finance, English and social media. The school is already fully equipped with training materials and classrooms, ready to open its doors to children from the area. The school also serves to rehabilitate and support minors who have committed crimes – and will work alongside the Fundação Casa. Part of the programme will include access to a certified psychologist.
“This is so important and we worked so hard to build this. This is just the beginning – the community is just getting started,” affirmed Centurion COO, Diana Tavares.
Read more about plans for the school in an exclusive interview with Roberto Gallo – published in this month’s edition of SiGMA Magazine.
