Because besides playing football in such isolated places as Tierra del Fuego, Iceland, Mongolia or Pakistan, there is also a global need for strengthening the bonds among families, communities and rural schools. The sense of community must be built day by day, through actions and not words, both in urban and rural areas. The huge cultural diversity has a value that defines all the evolutionary richness of humanity. To know it, respect it and to generate a space for communication and gathering are good ways to improve the living conditions on our planet.
The Rural Communities Network is in touch with an increasing number of people who have a strong social commitment and who share their mission; to articulate efforts and mobilize resources to accompany the development of rural inhabitants.
Argentineans who live abroad and foreigners who have travelled all over the world, can help to kickstart the idea on a global level. Their task is to find a social organization, school and/or rural community, to explain to them what the aim of this initiative is, and encourage them to participate. Social organizations of international scope such as Red Solidaria, UNICEF, Ashoka, Idealistas.org, Help Argentina and Fundación Avina are offering their support to spread this initiative. Thousands of individuals are joining each year.
Objectives
1.To bring children´s families and their rural schools closer, which allows for the strengthening of the bonds between them, through initiating specific actions with a strong sense of community.
2.To celebrate the progress and results of the communitarian action through a gathering focused on children, with sports as the main theme.
3.To promote the exchange of experiences, cultural values and knowledge among students, teachers and rural communities of the entire world through the website
www.futbolrural.org.ar and other similar ones.
4.To bring tools closer to encourage community development through key information in areas of education, health, work, justice, and environment by means of websites of collective creation such as
www.mapasderecursos.org.ar.
Characteristics of the Gathering
It is important to clarify that only children will play football (they can be boys and girls, as well as young people of school age). It is neither a tournament nor a championship, it is a gathering and the place of the gathering is -according to what they agree on- the rural school or community. The main objective is community development, and not competition among rural communities and villages. This is one of the conditions to join the campaign and share its spirit.
The participation of families, school authorities and other adults related with the community will be exclusively focused on the supportive actions they jointly decide to undertake at a local level. Their responsibility will also be to anticipate and look after all aspects related to safety of all participants during the process and to agree on other organizational aspects that shall celebrate community actions they undertook previously or will undertake during the same day of the gathering; Friday October 28. The last Friday of October of each year is the anniversary date of this global gathering. This gathering symbolically joins all rural schools and communities of the world that share these objectives. If it is not possible to carry out the celebration on said date due to weather reasons, a more convenient date will be agreed upon.
Terms and conditions
As you well know, every event done by schools and communities must guarantee the safety of all participants. In this regard, here are, some of the safety measures that we believe must be taken into account:
*That children play in a place suitable for sports that guarantees their safety and wellbeing;
*That adults prevent possible problems that may arise on the day of the match. For example, for the school representative to be present, checking the field before every match to make sure that there are no sharp elements that may hurt the children, having a first-aid kit and doctors available, and –if possible- an ambulance in case of any accident, etc;
*If the field is covered, they should make sure it is suitable for this specific purpose and comply with the safety rules required by the applicable law;
*Remember that it is generally adults rather than children who are responsible for disturbances or conflicts in sports events, and keep this in mind in order to prevent any problems that may arise (for instance, exercising the right of admission to the event and notifying the community authorities);
*When talking about football , goals are the main cause of very strong knocks and even of serious accidents. Special attention must be paid to that. Covering the goals with a material that cushions the impact is one of the best forms of prevention. If they are not like that yet, it may even be a potential objective for the supportive action;
*The ball has to be made of a material that allows children to play without putting their physical safety at risk. For this same reason, we recommend that children play with sneakers to minimize the possibilities of an injury. If there are children who do not have footwear, a previous campaign can be organized so that nobody in the community lacks their own pair of shoes;
*Bear in mind and obey all the laws and any regulations, for example: rules that indicate how to prevent and act in cases of fire; laws that list the specifications for the installations where the event will take place, especially regarding emergency and evacuation signs, rules about safety and hygiene, among others.
