What is the WimBelemDon Project
WimBelemDon Project – Educating through Tennis
What is the WimBelemDon Project?
Vision
“That all children may have a dream and the capacity to pursue it while creating a fair, self-sustaining society”.
Mission
“To promote social transformation for vulnerable children and teenagers through the practice of tennis and cultural, pedagogical and socio-emotional activities, ADOPTING A HUMAN OUTLOOK THAT RESPECTS THE LIMITS AND ACTIVATES THE POTENTIAL of each pupil, encouraging them to be autonomous, spreading good values and inspiring the communities around them”.
Values
INNOVATION: We use innovation and creativity to engage people, thereby promoting change and collective growth.
PERSEVERANCE: We are committed to and driven by our cause, and we work with courage and perseverance to contribute towards the creation of a fair, self-sustaining society.
TRANSFORMATION: We promote social transformation through integrated development, creating opportunities for individuals to be transformative agents towards a fair and diverse society.
EMPATHY: We create solid, long-lasting ties by living our values and examples.
TRANSPARENCY: We value trustworthy relationships through actions based on an honest, transparent position, which results in recognition of the work done.
Summary of the Project
It’s a project that, through teaching tennis and carrying out extra-school activities, develops skills and attitudes in children at risk, seeking to facilitate the process of social integration.
Since when?
The WimBelemDon Project was founded in october 2000
- Founded in 2000, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, WimBelemDon is among the 100 Best Non-for-profit Organization in the country based on 44 management and transparency criteria (we are more than 300.000 NGOs in Brazil).
- It has been been the 1st Brazilian organization granted the ATP Aces for Charity Award, a recognition to Tennis social projects around the world.
- Over thousand children assisted by the project in the past 17 years
- 55 children daily assisted currently. Capacity for 120 children, dependent on donation budget. 100 have tennis classes once a week, at their school, staying in a waiting list.
- Comprehensive social transformation project offering daily Tennis lessons, Psychology group support, learning labs, literacy and story telling, Wellbeing practices, Arts Workshops.
How many children?
- 74 kids from 06 to 18 years old
What are the Project goals?
Overall Goal
To promote the social inclusion of at-risk and/or vulnerable children and teenagers using sport, culture and education as transformative tools.
Specific Objectives
- To offer educational, sports, socio-emotional and cultural activities, thereby stimulating the pupils’ physical, cognitive, emotional and artistic development.
- To promote socialising and working with ethical values with a view to respecting differences, integration, cooperation and improvement of school attainment.
- To encourage the development of competences and skills that respect DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES AND THE PUPILS’ MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES during their participation in the project.
- To expand lived experiences and worldviews through participation in different cultural and sports events, such as visiting theatres, museums, expos, and tennis tournaments.
- To guarantee the daily provision of wellbalanced meals, aiming to encourage the development of healthy eating habits.
Why Tennis?
(BY ARTHUR ASHE, AMERICAN TENNIS PLAYER DEDICATED TO SOCIAL CAUSES, FIRST BLACK TENNIS PLAYER TO WIN A GRAND SLAM)
Tennis practice helps children to:
- Develop a strong work ethic and discipline;
- Handle mistakes and solve problems;
- Take responsibility for their actions;
- Control their emotions in difficult moments;
- Cope with stress, pressure and tension;
- Make decisions by planning the best hits and strategies;
- Develop effective performance rituals;
- Develop sportsmanship and social skills;
- Win with dignity and lose with honour;
- Develop team spirit and communication skills.
At WimBelemDon, we believe that just like any individual sport, TENNIS HELPS CHILDREN REALISE THEY CAN OVERCOME OBSTACLES AND WIN THE GAME BY THEMSELVES. Undoubtedly, this makes them develop skills and positive attitudes that enable them to be proactive participants of society in future.
Check out the bilingual English version of our book “WimBelemDon 20 years – A Story of Dreams, Education, Perseverance and Social Transformation”:
Social Report
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