MADRID, 11 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The women’s FC Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmatí, a UNHCR collaborator, visited an inclusive women’s group from AE Ramassà, a soccer team made up of 35 refugee women, asylum seekers and migrants, on Tuesday on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl.
This team, which began its first training sessions in Barcelona in May 2021, has the support of the FC Barcelona Foundation and its objective is to “promote the integration” of refugee women of different nationalities, ages and backgrounds, generating a network of support and of links through football through the SportNet methodology, which uses sport as a tool for change.
Aitana, nominated for the Ballon d’Or and the only Spanish player present in the ideal eleven of the Champions League and the last European Championship, spoke with the members of AE Ramassà. The players conveyed how sport helps them forge new friendships and is helping them in their integration process.
“I like it because I have made friends and I can talk to them. Playing football makes me happy and I have more energy after training and talking to other women like me,” explained Svitlana Adamenko, a chemical engineer and refugee from Ukraine who arrived in March to Barcelona fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Fereshteh Rafat, a refugee journalist and activist from Afghanistan, also delved into the positive effects that sport has on both her physical and mental health, generating links between them. “Playing football with Ramassà helps us integrate into the community. We know that in Spain we are not alone. Here we are all refugees and we have the same standard of living, we all have similar problems,” she added.
For her part, Aitana Bonmatí talked about the challenges and barriers faced by women both in the world of sports and in many other social contexts. “I know that all of you have had difficult paths, in the end we are women and we have many adversities along the way, but we deserve the same rights and also lead the world,” she said.
“This International Day aims to raise awareness among the population about the obstacles that girls and young women have to overcome just because of gender, facing cultural, social and economic barriers that have consequences in their relationship with the practice of sports,” UNHCR said in a statement. .