Focus Lebanon: an Inter Campus update from Beirut

Beirut - “In Shatila, the refugee camp to the south of the city, everyone knows about Inter Campus, from those who are interested in sport to the families of the children involved, to those who just live here and see the boys and girls walking along the streets wearing the Nerazzurri shirt. All of us coaches are volunteers and we’ve all got the same immense motivation; that through football training we can help contribute to a child's personal development. This goal makes us feel like we are a part of a virtuous system. Similarly, the discussions that happen during the visits of the Italian delegation facilitate an important exchange of views that make us feel a part of the same great family; we are all working together to help children.

We’ve achieved tangible results through the project, I think back to the example of two young twins who due to a difficult family situation both behaved very problematically both at school and at home. It got to the point where you couldn’t control them at all. But thanks to the training with Inter Campus, these children have become more disciplined, of course there are still some problems from time to time, and their mother had threatened to stop them from going to training if they don’t behave well at home. Their desire to play football and the risk of having to give it up were the decisive stimuli in improving their behaviour:  an important sporting and educational success.

How do I see the future of the project? The project itself is the future and one of the outcomes is to give the local coaches the skills to work independently in managing training and the activities so that they can all be carried out with the same shared mindset.

An objective for the future? We want to coordinate with local associations and create a referral system that proposes Inter Campus training as one of the solutions to help children who need educational and behavioural help.”