OREANDA-NEWS.    The children’s eyes were sparkling during the visit of the President of the German Football Association (DFB) and the Lufthansa delegation at the Education and Community Center Casa Mateus near Sao Paulo, Brazil. Wolfang Niersbach, President of the DFB, Dr Reinhard Rauball, President of the German Football League, and Lufthansa Senior Vice President Product & Marketing Dr Reinhold Huber, were accompanied by the former German football national player Cacau, and by a Lufthansa crew.

Help Alliance, the help organization of Lufthansa employees, started several months ago to provide money for the renovation of the center’s roof construction. Thanks to the DFB donation of 15,000 euros, additional activities within the project can be launched, which will be a great help for the children. The support of the project is part of the campaign “Children’s Dreams” by the German national team.

“We not only want to move something sporty in Brazil, but to also leave marks besides football fields. Creating better prospects for children is an important task for all of us. Together with the German Football League and our partners, we aim to get involved beyond the World Cup and have a lasting effect”, said Wolfgang Niersbach.

„It is a great pleasure for us to contribute our part for a better future for the young children and teenagers at Casa Mateus. Seeing the happy eyes of the children makes our efforts to support future Help Alliance projects in Brazil and beyond even stronger,” Dr  Reinhold Huber said.

The children and young students of the center were not just happy about the money donation, but also about DFB t-shirts and jerseys of the national team. Aside from learning more about the project, the delegation also had the pleasure to experience the football skills of the students first hand at a friendly match. The students were also engaged to convince the German guests to do a couple Capoeira steps, a traditional Brazilian dance.

Since 1980, Casa Mateus is supporting 200 children and teenagers in need every year. It provides help for self-help. Families in need benefit from free social advice and pragmatic help for a better life. The individual initiative of the children and teenagers from the slum areas is supported by education programs, language courses, musical trainings, theater and dance. The only condition for the participation in the courses: the children have to go to regular school classes. As of this year, Help Alliance is supporting the establishment and the renovation of schools. A Lufthansa flight attendant is the patron of the project within the Lufthansa Help Alliance.

Carlos Musskopf, the priest at Casa Mateus, is very thankful for the help: “Without the help of the DFB and Help Alliance, we wouldn’t be able to support our children adequately and wouldn’t have been able to undertake the necessary renovation work. The visit of the DFB president, of Cacau and Lufthansa fills us all with pride.”

Lufthansa employees founded the Help Alliance in 1999. Today, the non-profit association unites about 40 help organizations from all around the world under one roof. Employees from Lufthansa Group and Condor voluntarily take the responsibility in cooperation with local partners who are experienced with development efforts. The help initiatives are funded solely by donations. One of the main target groups are children who are helped to a brighter future through education and vocational training projects. Help Alliance e.V. is politically and religiously independent and is recognized as exceptionally eligible for funding.

Aside from projects in Africa and Asia, Help Alliance has supported five projects in Brazil since 2007. The projects are SEARA in Santarиm near the Amazon, Estrela do Sul/Stern in the South of Porto Alegre, Centro Comunitбrio Paulo da Portela (CCCP) in Rio de Janeiro, Centro Comunitбrio Casa Mateus in Sao Paulo, as well as a Children’s Village in Guarabira in the North East of Brazil.