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27/12/2006 //
Javier Arenas: “Our objective is 4,000 sponsors”
Javier Arenas and Carlos Reig are racing their second Dakar this year, but it will be like their first time. For these two men from Barcelona, sports are important, but generosity is just as important. The two competitors were a bit disappointed last year as they could not carry out a humanitarian operation worthy of the name. But this year the members of the Pelayo-Aldeas Infantiles Team arrive at the starting line in Lisbon with a smile. “We have wanted to carry out a humanitarian action since we decided to race the Dakar”, says Javier Arenas, the driver. “A few months ago we reached an agreement with Children’s Villages after we noticed something quite obvious: the itinerary of the race passes more or less through the towns where this association is present.”
Children’s Villages, Aldeas Infantiles in Spanish, is an organisation active on all continents and helps children and young people by providing them assistance and training where they live. “Our purpose is to provide help, but also to create. The young people that Children’s Villages works with are given the necessary elements to be able to work where they live. We find this approach positive because it tackles the local problems and avoids people migrating out of despair”.
In concrete terms, the synergies between the two competitors and the NGO have lead to a project aimed at finding sponsors for 4,000 young Africans during the two weeks of the rally. The sponsors would pay 300 euros per year. If you are interested, please check their website at www.undakardiferente.org or do not hesitate to call their toll-free number: +34.902.100.136.
As Javier and Carlos are ready to go all the way, they have also foreseen what comes after the Dakar: “We will tour the shopping centres once we come home and showcase an exhibition with pictures of the race and of the centres where the young people are hosted”. Pelayo, a Spanish insurance company, is the major sponsor of the team and also contributes in this humanitarian fight by trying to get its clients involved: “This is the comeback of this company that was once a major sponsor with the victory as objective and now wishes a simple and ethical participation in the Dakar”, says Javier Arenas.
Children’s Villages, Aldeas Infantiles in Spanish, is an organisation active on all continents and helps children and young people by providing them assistance and training where they live. “Our purpose is to provide help, but also to create. The young people that Children’s Villages works with are given the necessary elements to be able to work where they live. We find this approach positive because it tackles the local problems and avoids people migrating out of despair”.
In concrete terms, the synergies between the two competitors and the NGO have lead to a project aimed at finding sponsors for 4,000 young Africans during the two weeks of the rally. The sponsors would pay 300 euros per year. If you are interested, please check their website at www.undakardiferente.org or do not hesitate to call their toll-free number: +34.902.100.136.
As Javier and Carlos are ready to go all the way, they have also foreseen what comes after the Dakar: “We will tour the shopping centres once we come home and showcase an exhibition with pictures of the race and of the centres where the young people are hosted”. Pelayo, a Spanish insurance company, is the major sponsor of the team and also contributes in this humanitarian fight by trying to get its clients involved: “This is the comeback of this company that was once a major sponsor with the victory as objective and now wishes a simple and ethical participation in the Dakar”, says Javier Arenas.