2. MARIO BALOTELLI
I am a naturalized Italian, but I come from Ghana.
From my birth parents I was leaving. Luckily, me adopted two angels
I am suffering from racism every day. I am the first black person - which carries
the shirt of the Italian national team.
I'm not evil - my experiences in the life have made me who I am - to someone
who behaves differently than most of the people.
Before you criticize me in advance - Should you first try to find out more about
me.
3. Mario Balotelli
Everyone makes fun of him and nobody knows - that he donated more
than "50%" of his salary to children in Africa!
No other athlete does that
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6. Mario Balotelli was born
on August 12th 1990 in
Palermo, Sicily, to
Christian Ghanaian
immigrants Thomas and
Rose Barwuah. The
family moved to Bagnolo
Mella in the province of
Brescia, Lombardy,
shortly after he was
born.
As an infant, he had life-
threatening
complications with his
intestines which led to a
series of operations,
although his condition
had improved by 1992.
7. Mario's health problems and the family's cramped living conditions meant the Barwuahs
decided to ask for the help of social services who recommended that he be fostered.
In 1993, the Barwuah family agreed to entrust the three-year-old boy to an Italian foster family,
the Balotellis.
From the very start mum, dad, brothers Corrado and Giovanni, and sister Cristina (all much
older than him) looked after little Mario with all the love of a parent, brother or sister.
8.
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10. When he was just five Mario began playing
football for the
Mompiano parish team and was immediately
grouped with the
older boys because of his exceptional technical
skills.
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14. In 2001 he started playing
for A.C. Lumezzane and
made his first
team debut when he was
15 on April 2nd 2006
(Padova-Lumezzane,
Euganeo Stadium). And so,
thanks in part to a special
exemption granted
by the Serie C league (you
have to be 16 to play for a
professional team),
Mario became the youngest
player ever in the history of
this category.
15. Pushed back and forth
from the beginning,
always and everywhere
rejected. And this
monkey noises and
throwing bananas
from the tribunes, where
he always played.
Racism is so repulsive as
cannibalism. Under
these difficult
circumstances, Balotelli
was difficult - one scandal
followed the next.
16. Mario visits the children of Casa del Sole ngo
Mario supports the rehabilitation work of Casa del Sole Onlus, a non-profit
organisation based in Curtatone (Mantova). Mario visited the children on
the programme and saw for himself how rehabilitation activities with
horses offer a way to increase their confidence. While he was there he
too climbed into the saddle to try the exercises the
children practice every day.
17.
18. Mario contributes to the completion of a children’s school in Sudan
Mario has donated his fee as international football testimonial to the
Cuey Machar Secondary School Foundation. This will make it possible
to complete the construction of a secondary school for Sudanese
children in the village of Cuey Machar in the south of the country, the
birthplace of Mario’s friend John Kon Kelei, a former child soldier. It was
his idea to build the school to give Sudanese children an alternative to
weapons and fighting. Kon is a member of NYPAW (Network of Young
People Affected by War) and works for the CMSF foundation.
19.
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21. Mario supports Médecins Sans Frontières
Mario is also a supporter of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without
Borders), the international organisation. Mario is donating his own
earnings from sales of the children’s book - written by Luigi Garlando
(”Buuuu”, Einaudi Editore) to the organisation, which provides
humanitarian aid in about 63 countries, for people whose survival is at
risk due to violence, natural catastrophes, war, epidemics, malnutrition,
and lack of health care.
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28. Mario supports the “One bridge for the future” project
Mario is happy when he has the chance to put a smile on
the face of a child in difficulty or with health problems. He
does so whenever he can and without making a fuss about it.
And not just in Italy.
29.
30. In Brazil, where he spent
Christmas in 2007 and 2008
(as the guest of
missionaries Sister Claudia
Strada and
Sister Raffaella Corvino,
and the children who live in
one of the country’s
favelas), Mario supports the
“Un Ponte
per il Futuro” (A Bridge for
the Future) project, which
offers help to several local
associations committed to
providing
an education for the
children who live in the
Mata Escura favela, one of
the most notorious in
Salvador de Bahia,
where overcrowding, lack
of services, poverty and
violence put many children
at permanent risk.
31.
32. The childhood can not be wipe -
they remains last a lifetime
Parents cared for the childhood
of your children, that they, if they
have reason to cheer - in the
future - can be even cheer.
