{"id":6949,"date":"2013-02-25T10:07:17","date_gmt":"2013-02-25T13:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=6949"},"modified":"2014-06-21T14:07:08","modified_gmt":"2014-06-21T17:07:08","slug":"speculation-halts-the-work-of-ngos-in-vidigal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=6949","title":{"rendered":"Speculation Halts the Work of NGO in Vidigal"},"content":{"rendered":"

For original article in Portuguese in Vidiga! click here<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Victims of the greed generated by the pacification of Vidigal<\/a>, the Institute Todos na Luta<\/a>\u00a0(All in the Fight), responsible for the training of young athletes in boxing, had to abandon the important position it has held in the community for over 20 years.\u00a0Now, it is a race against time to raise funds and renovate the new space, in order to resume their activities, which have been suspended since December.<\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Trainees meet for a boxing tournament in Vidigal’s square<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In mid 2011, everything was going fairly well for the Institute. After 20 years in the community, Raff Giglio<\/a> officially founded the organization, which teaches boxing, citizenship and culture in Vidigal. Seven of these years had been dedicated strictly to social work.\u00a0The institute had sponsors, and they had access to an excellent space, located at the bottom of the Costa Azul condominium.\u00a0One detail that drew the attention of anyone visiting the Institute, as with much of Vidigal, was the incredible ocean view out over Niemeyer Avenue.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, luck ran out for the group in November of that year, when Vidigal was pacified<\/a>. With police presence came real estate speculation.\u00a0Soon, Raff and his students were asked to leave the building. Even with the rent paid religiously and on time, other plans were being made for this space.<\/p>\n

A court settlement allowed them to remain there until December 2012.\u00a0However, at that point, apart from losing their headquarters, they also lost their sponsor who refused to renew the contract with the organization.<\/p>\n

While searching for a new location, classes continued to be taught.\u00a0It was not easy to find a property available in Vidigal, let alone one big enough. In the end, the most appropriate place was a large warehouse, in bad shape, but with the potential to house the group.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Raff Giglio and his daughter Juliana in front of the warehouse that would serve as the new headquarters for the Instituto Todos na Luta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A dedicated life<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

With a solid boxing career, strong character references and professionalism, Raff gave up his private boxing school in 2004 in order to teach the residents of Vidigal. At the same time, he was responsible for discovering and training the Olympic medalist Esquiva Falc\u00e3o, who received a silver medal in the London Olympics.\u00a0He brought him to Rio, paid for his travels, housed him at the academy and supplied his food for a year, until he went on to S\u00e3o Paulo.\u00a0Raff was rewarded for the love he showed to Falc\u00e3o and his brother, Yamaguchi Falc\u00e3o, another medalist. Upon returning from the Olympics, the\u00a0two brothers passed through<\/a> Vidigal, after visiting Brasilia and being greeted by President Dilma, even before going to see their parents in Esp\u00edrito Santo State.<\/p>\n

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Raff between Esquiva and Yamagushi – Photo by Marcio Mercante \/ Ag. O Dia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Classes stop<\/strong>
\nWith an intense schedule of activities, which included everything from lessons for beginners, to the creation of a High Performance team with a focus on the Olympics, the activity of the Institute was not simply limited to 100 children and young adults that attended. Rather, participation extended to the families who received, in addition to basic staples food baskets, regular visits from a social worker and invitations to participate in the Institute\u2019s various events.<\/p>\n

All this has now stopped, as the Institute searches for the funds necessary to renovate the new headquarters, whose rent is currently being paid by actor Malvino Salvador. He has been training for 5 years with Raff.\u00a0 This is another important characteristic of the Institute \u201cTodos na Luta.\u201d They also provide boxing training specifically designed for actors who are learning the sport and experience for their movie roles. This was the case for actors Malvino, de\u00a0Eriberto Le\u00e3o and Thiago Rodrigues<\/a> who prepared and trained for 6 months to act as the brothers, Ulysses and Zenon, in ‘War of the Sexes.’<\/p>\n

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Esquiva Falc\u00e3o, Thiago Rodrigues, Yamagushi Falc\u00e3o and Eriberto Le\u00e3o at the Instituto Todos na Luta \/ Photo by Marcio Mercante \/ Ag. O Dia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Art and fight<\/strong>
\nThe many actors involved in this boxing gym set the tone for how things work there: two-hour classes, one for training, the other for learning citizenship and culture.\u00a0The kids watched videos, created recycling workshops and discussed important topics such as drug use.<\/p>\n

On special occasions, directors with a recognized talent, such as Selton Mello, arrived to participate in debates with the students.<\/p>\n

Contributions<\/strong>
\nThe activities of \u201cTodas na Luta\u201d remain inactive until they can raise at least a portion of the R$240,000 required to renovate their new working space. The roof must be redone and the inside made livable, at least enough to set up the boxing ring and allow the High Performance athletes to resume training, which cannot stop.<\/p>\n

\"\"To raise the money, they literally got their hands dirty by making brigadeiros. They are selling the sweet at the local market, so there is at least some income being generated.\u00a0Other contributions are welcome by making donations on the Institute\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Here’s how you can help:<\/p>\n

-Donate materials, equipment and manual labour<\/p>\n

-Make\u00a0donations through the site<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

-Donate using the Institute’s bank account:<\/p>\n

Raz\u00e3o Social: Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Pr\u00f3 Esporte Educa\u00e7\u00e3o e Cultura<\/strong>
\nCNPJ: 12.935.062\/0001-74<\/strong>
\nBanco: Caixa Econ\u00f4mica Federal<\/strong>
\nAG: 0218<\/strong>
\nOP: 003<\/strong>
\nC\/C: 681-5<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information, please call (21) 3204-8070<\/p>\n

Check out these videos presenting the Institute on SporTV and the Institue being supported by Malvino Salvador:<\/p>\n