on site in Rio in 2017

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our donors, Sven Ditz and his family were able to personally deliver the much-hoped-for shoes, books, and funding for renovations of the community building. Here is his report:

Standing here in the Guararapes community with shoes for 120 children, we are greeted by the project leader, who has gathered everyone together – “Alegria, ahoi!” has arrived!

She tells the children and teens in detail what has happened since our last visit. Many remember us, but none truly believed we would come back...

Norma, one of the local contacts, explains that we’ve now founded an association in Germany, told many people about them, and that we want to continue supporting them.
This perspective brings bright eyes and joyful shouts of “Obrigado!”

But first – as always – the grounds around the “school building” are cleaned up together. Even with guests from Germany, daily community chores are still a must! Gloves on, trash bags ready — and off we go!

Everyone joins in — including us.

Together, we haul bags full of garbage out of the favela. And everyone realizes: it’s not just cleaner and more hygienic, but actually more beautiful — and working side by side like this can even be fun.

Back inside the “sala de actividade”, everyone receives a picnic bag and fresh fruit — a true luxury here, and certainly not taken for granted. Gratefully, everything is eaten right away or carefully saved for home.

And then, finally — the surprise!

Promundo, our partner on the ground, has done an amazing job preparing:
Every child receives a pair of perfectly sized shoes, packed in a bag with their name on it. The handover feels like a holiday gift ceremony — each child is called up individually and receives their gift with cheers and applause from the group.

The Promundo team had kept everything secret until the handover, so the joy was overwhelming when the kids opened their first-ever brand-new pair of soccer shoes.

Even the coach — who wasn’t scheduled that day but came just to see the children’s joy — stood next to me, visibly moved: "a alegria não tem preço"... "this joy is priceless".

As the day wound down and most children had gone, one teenager approached. Holding his “gift,” he silently hugged each of us, turned around, and disappeared without a word.

Deep emotion. No words needed.

We had high hopes for this initiative. We reached many people and made a lot happen. But what we achieved was so much more than we expected.

Obrigada. Thank you.

We will return.

“Alegria, ahoi!”

The sports shoes and jerseys arrived just in time:

On Sunday, some of the children proudly wore their new gear, donated through “Alegria, ahoi!”, at a sports festival on the beach of Botafogo.

The festival, organized annually by several aid organizations, offers children from local communities a full day of:

Judo, Capoeira, sailing, gymnastics, games, of course football, and much more.
They get to play, move, and simply enjoy being kids for a day.

We were there — right in the middle of it all — and spent another unforgettable day with the children.
In their often difficult lives, it was a much-needed break from everyday hardship.

Sadly, not many kids from Guararapes were able to attend — many had to work over the weekend, help at home, or were simply not given permission to go.

Promundo is doing amazing work, and we hope that together, Promundo and Alegria, ahoi! can achieve even more — so that even more children from Guararapes have a chance at a safe, worry-free life.

We wish the kids, in the name of Alegria, ahoi!, many happy moments and safe steps with their new sports shoes — and above all:

We hope we brought them a little joy.

Alegria, ahoi!