“We won’t be able to solve Angola’s social problems, but we can teach these children to be people who won’t stop in the face of difficulties and who look to the future with the hope that things can improve by setting an example and filling their hearts with happiness in being together and playing football.”

When he talks about these topics during meetings with parents and children, Gouveia Caquezo, 39 and part of Inter Campus Angola since 2009 as well as national technical coordinator since 2013, immediately conveys his great dedication and passion for the education and training of the new generations. From the slums of Luanda Lixeira, where Gouveia lives with his wife Cristina and his two children, this boy has become a man thanks to Inter Campus’ teachings. He started 11 years ago as a simple coach of boys and girls in the Mota community, and everyone then slowly noticed him for his great willingness, openness and precision: he organised tournaments and events where hundreds of children poured into the pitches of the Salesian communities to play and socialise whilst chasing a ball that has become a symbol of union and social identification in a country where the average life expectancy barely reaches 50 and where finding a job to feed your family is no easy task.

The rise of Inter Campus’ numbers (there are now 800+ boys and girls in the project), of its centres (there are now nine bases in four provinces across the country), of its coaches (more than 60) and of its children who go on to become coaches (about 50% of the coaches themselves come from Inter Campus’ educational academy) is also thanks to him. The formative moments organised with the children’s families as well as numerous recreational activities that accompany training all help to provide a much more rounded and deeper education than standard activities.

The boy who became a man and then a leader represents an indomitable capacity for resilience in the face of hardship, finding his own path and sense of fulfillment and purpose through helping others and youth training.

Gouveia represents continuity amidst change, as all the Salesian partners have appreciated his work, as has Inter Campus, recognizing his role as a leader and an example at the service of children and coaches; young participants and mentors who, through football, seek a small measure of relief from the great difficulties that grip the country.

“Sem problema” is how he loves to conclude his sentences when talking to the children; the underlying logic is that a solution exists for everything.