Throughout the years, community outreach volunteers supported by UNHCR have played a key role in the implementation of sports activities in border and other prioritized communities in Venezuela, where children are exposed to violence, protection risks, limited access to child protection services and the mobility of parents that leave them without adult supervision for prolonged periods.

One of the community outreach volunteers who have helped UNHCR implement its sports-for-protection strategy in Venezuela is Leimer Contreras, formerly a soccer player in Colombia who moved to Venezuela in 2006 and lives in San Antonio, Táchira, and coaches the local soccer team, which includes, his 7-year-old son Thiago. Another is Tibisay Vegas, an enthusiastic member of the Malala Women’s Network, in Greater Caracas. These are their stories.

Leimer

“My name is Leimer Contreras (33). I grew up in La Guajira, Colombia, close to the border with Venezuela. At 15, I moved to Venezuela, and I have now been here for 18 years. I have a wife and four children – José Manuel (17), Juan José (14), Thiago Lionel (7), and Dominic Abraham (6). We play in a sports field in Mi Pequeña Barinas that was restored and refurbished by UNHCR as part of its strategy for the creation of “safe spaces” in Venezuela.  Facilities were improved and equipped to serve as a place where people in the community can gather and a recreational area for children.

My photos show the passion with which soccer is lived in this country.  Soccer practice has to go beyond just the enjoyment of the sport.  I want to share my love for soccer, while also making a meaningful contribution to the community that welcomed my mother and me when we most needed it.  This is why I coach boys and girls.”

Thiago

“I am Thiago (8) and I have been playing soccer since I was 3 years old. Now my dad is my teacher, and he helps me a lot with my training in soccer. The children in the photos are my classmates and friends from the different schools who played in a small tournament that was held to promote sports in a community called Llano Jorge, in San Antonio del Táchira.

In my photos I tried to show many things. The support for the children, the effort to get ahead. The work that is required to reach their goals, and how the community tries to help so that the young people do not get lost in the street.  One more child on the pitch is one child less on the street.

Soccer is very important to me. I played in places many can only dream of reaching. Thanks to my parents, I play this beautiful sport and I hope to become a professional. I want to be a professional, but only God knows, and I put my future in his hands.”

Tibisay

“My name is Tibisay María Vegas Saltarín (32), I am a community outreach volunteer in the El Cafetal community in El Junquito, Greater Caracas. At the “Malala Women’s Network”, we identify cases of people in vulnerable situations and refer them to UNHCR and its partner organizations so that they can help them.

I took on soccer while looking for an activity that would help me overcome a period of depression following the loss of my mother, which affected me a lot. Women and young neighbours in the community, together with the sports coordinator of the local pitch, invited me to play soccer to encourage me to try something different. So, along with other young women in the community and the support of the sports coordinator, we formed a women’s soccer team. We sent a clear message to society: That soccer is not only for men, and women can also play soccer and do it well.”

“The photos were taken in the community field of El Cafetal. I believe that the young people in these pictures represent the future. Football helps them to move forward with their lives.

During our practices we include our children, because we are all mothers. When we play soccer, we set an example for our children that playing sports is something good that fills you with life and prevents you from being “idle”, keeping you away from dangers and vices.

Football for me is life. For me, and for any human being, it is life, and it is discipline.”