THE Widus Foundation Inc. and the Angeles City Kuliat Jaycees have forged a partnership to sponsor a football clinic for Aeta children, particularly those residing in Sitio Target in the upland village of Sapang Bato in Angeles City.
Widus Foundation Inc. manager Ronnel Golimlim said a memorandum of agreement is set to be signed between the foundation and Jaycees officials in line with the implementation of the project dubbed as Goal.
"The technical project po natin is Goal Project, a grassroots football clinic for the underprivileged Aeta community basically in Sapang Bato," Golimlim said.
Maria Joyce Macaspac, president of the Angeles City Kuliat Jaycees, said they started the Goal project last year and they are planning to run it for three years.
She said they discovered the potential of Aeta children in terms of sports.
"Nakita po namin ang potential ng mga Aeta players na naka reside po sa Sitio Target which is one of our adopted communities sa chapter so we decided to help them po," Macaspac said.
Every Saturday, a group of Aeta kids plays soccer at the Clark Freeport parade grounds and the Jaycees decided to provide additional trainings, she added.
"We will have coaches na pupunta sa Sitio at doon sila magpatrain para hindi na po bababa [ng Clark] yung mga bata so that is additional four days, kaya magiging five days training na po ang mga Aeta sa football," Macaspac said.
This year, the Jaycees partnered with the Widus Foundation Inc. to help the Aeta players, according to her.
"We believe that this program will be one of the biggest projects of this chapter. Ang dami pong programang nakalaan ang nakalaan sa tulong ng foundation," Macaspac said.
The project is aimed to support the scholarships of the Aeta children trough sports.
"We train them in football so that in the long run they could use it and they can apply for sports scholarship," Macaspac said.
Success stories revealed that there are players in Clark who availed themselves of scholarship programs in various schools in Metro Manila like the Far Eastern University (FEU), according to Macaspac.
"That is our target, to help these kids to have the same opportunity para makapag aral sila sa Manila or even dito sa Pampanga that offers football as their sports scholarship grant," she added.
Golimlim said Widus Foundation Inc. aims to give back to the community through five care programs on health, education, environment, and cultural heritage.