Fight for Pacification begins

The Bitetti Combat team was in some of Rio de Janeiro's needy communities this Tuesday (August 4) and kicked off the Fight for Pacification project, which will bring the martial art to thousands of children. While Rodrigo Artilheiro, Julio Muniz and André Bottino, alongside the national Olympic wrestling team, visited Dona Marta, in Botafogo, Antoine Jaoude and Fernando Miranda checked out the facilities at Jardim Batam, in Realengo.

In common, both communities today are pacified by the Police. They were already served by Suderj em Forma, which takes sport to underprivileged young people, and will now take martial arts classes with Luta pela Pacificação. Having participated in the Olympics, Antoine Jaoude saw the terror of war up close when he lived in Beirut as a teenager. The fighter served as an example for the children present, who for a long time experienced another war, that between drug traffickers. “Sport allowed me to reach new horizons and gave me a profession”, he commented.

One of those responsible for jiu-jitsu training at the BOPE Battalion, in the pacified Tavares Bastos favela, Gilson Fernandes was assigned to Batam and comments on the importance of the work.

“At Tavares we have 130 children and here the prospect is of having many more students. We will extend work in Batam like the one started in Tavares a year ago, with the support of the command and police officer André Felix, which is now a success. It's no use just providing health and education, young people need other activities and sport brings them together, takes them away from drugs and provides opportunities and work”, he said.

It will be up to the organization of Bitetti Combat, with the support of the Government of Rio and Suderj, to structure the centers with equipment, teachers and provide training conditions.