FCBARCELONA.CAT
Main menu
Content menu
Football
16.01.2009 13:25
Inaugurating the XICS centre in Morocco
Marc Parramón (enviat especial) / Anna Segura
FC Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has inaugurated the first Red Cross International Solidarity Centre (XICS) in Morroco, siutated in Tangier. With this new place, the Barça Fundación increases its edication net that now benefits 7,000 children.
The opening ceremony in the district of Beni Makada of Tangier created a great party as the people in the area showed their delight at the new centre that will help around 300 kids from the neighbourhood that are at risk of social exclusion or are in vulnerable situations.
Official unveiling
Laporta unveiled the plaque to mark the opening of the centre with the
script on it written in both Arabic and Catalan and he was accompanied by vice-president Alfons
Godall, corporative director general, Joan Oliver, the Fundación's director general, Marta Segú,
and FCB Escola director, Julion Alberto.
Visiting the centre
During the visit the Barça party were able to see the 2,400m² XICS centre and speak to the children that will benefit from it. The space will have 380m² of rooms and 2,000m² of sports facilities.
"Very proud”
After the vist, Laporta spoke to the group of around 20 journalists that covered the event. “En Tangier Barça is known as a club of freedoms and this makes us feel very proud,” he explained. He then had a message to the children at the centre as he stated that “the success of the programme will be your success”
Cooperation between Morocco and Barça
“This programme constitutes the start of great cooperation between
Barça and Morocco,” Laporta continued. “The new centre will develop civic values
through the personal effort and teamwork of all the youngsters from the neighbourhood of Beni
Makada.”
Party time
To complete the ceremony, the Barça dignitaries had aperitifs and enjoyed Moroccan tea and cakes. The Blaugrana members were joined by people from other companies involved such as the Fundación Iberostar, the Agència Catalana de Cooperació al Desenvolupament and the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, as well as a number of local companies.
To view this content you need the latest version of the Flash Player
300 beneficiaries
Nearly 300 children will benefit from the XICS centre in Tangier that will aims to promote access
to education to youngsters in the neighbourhood that fid themselves outside of the education system
whether through abandonment or through lack of schooling. Also, the centre will promote sport and
leisure.
This is the tenth XICS centre to be opened in teh world and the first to be inaugurated in Morocco. The programme of the XICS Foundation now operates in countries such as Senegal, Brazil, India, Ecuador, Mexico, Mali, Burkina Faso as well as in Santa Coloma de Gramanet in Catalunya.
This is the tenth XICS centre to be opened in teh world and the first to be inaugurated in Morocco. The programme of the XICS Foundation now operates in countries such as Senegal, Brazil, India, Ecuador, Mexico, Mali, Burkina Faso as well as in Santa Coloma de Gramanet in Catalunya.
