The “Oltre la Rete” project with a team led by Manu Benelli brings volleyball to three Ethiopian villages as a tool for inclusion, education and development and was also financed by the Fivb
Simone Corbetta
December 30 – 12.17pm – ROMA
A bridge between Europe and Africa, especially Ethiopia, through volleyball. This is the “Oltre la Rete” project, created by MOXA-Modena in collaboration with the Experience network, made up of around 15 Italian volleyball clubs united in the common goal of transmitting the values of sport. Given the high human, sporting and social value, the project was chosen as one of the five financed by the Fivb, the international volleyball federation, through its foundation. Bringing light where there is none, thanks to the installation of street lamps served by solar panels, as well as creating volleyball courts with the necessary services, over the three-year duration of the project. This, from 20 to 30 December, aims to involve around 3 thousand pupils from primary and secondary schools in three Ethiopian villages: Shallala, Orde and Maldo, bringing sport into schools and lighting up the streets, precisely through volleyball.
the project
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A team made up of 20 people, led by Manù Benelli, the most successful Italian volleyball player, a doctor, a nurse, 5 technicians and 12 athletes with the aim of creating a volleyball campus, involving the schools of these three villages, trying to create school sports groups and small academies, as well as training local teachers to continue the activity throughout the year and ensure jobs. “This is the second project for me – explains Manù Benelli – after ‘Beyond the Wall’ in Krakow, where we took Under 16 girls to visit Auschwitz. New bonds, new relationships are created and I am happy because volleyball becomes a means to help and do good for these people. I believe that feeling good through sport is a necessity for everyone, everywhere”. Doing good by looking to the future: “We certainly want these girls and boys to play, but above all we want to try to plant a seed in future coaches and instructors who can carry forward this program throughout the year, allowing volleyball to be experienced every day.” A first step: “There is a lot of enthusiasm, especially in this first stage where we bring down a lot of material, such as nets, poles and everything needed, and then assemble it. From here on out we will then monitor periodically to see the growth”. There is so much joy: “It is difficult to describe in words, it is something that is touching me very much. I would like to underline, because it is my philosophy, that I firmly believe in the great values of sport, and of volleyball in particular, which I tend to transmit, in my small way, every day to those close to me. Knowing that I am bringing all this to a distant place, where we start from scratch is a great experience and emotion. Happy to have a team with me to share this adventure. Everyone has a well-defined role, but decisive. We start loaded with material, but also with enthusiasm, passion and desire to do, knowing that this is just the beginning”.
the statements
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The words of the mayor of Shallala, a village near Addis Ababa, make clear the importance of all this for the local population: “Thank you, life has changed for us, we have finally come out of the darkness resulting in greater safety, in particular, for our women and children”. “Our starting point is always volleyball – explains Giobbe Giovenzana, project manager who has been involved in Ethiopia for many years -, but our point of arrival is much greater: improving the quality of people’s lives. In Ethiopia the word “game” does not exist. Sport becomes the true form of freedom”.
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