Micaela Camarasa
03/18/2021 12:39
Clarín.com
Zonal
Updated 03/18/2021 12:39 PM
A few days ago, the members of the community organization
Lugar del Sol, from Berazategui
, met again at their headquarters after months without being there together due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the preparations for the place to have the elegance that the event deserved, there was a very particular one: cutting the hair of the
Diego Armando Maradona
mural
that adorns one of the walls of the headquarters, in memory of an event that had as protagonists Ten and the foundation.
The hair is a green ivy that simulates the curlers of a young Pelusa and that turns the portrait into a unique mural that requires constant maintenance.
Lugar del Sol was founded by two teachers from Berazategui, Claudia Bernazza and Quique Spinetta.
In October 2020,
as a gift for his 60 years, they decided to honor Diego, who had visited the foundation a long time ago, at the beginning of the 90's, as they say, Maradona came to see the finished mural through images that they brought him mutual friends.
Diego and Claudia's visit to the foundation in 1991, when the story began.
"When he was a year old in the middle of the pandemic, we wanted to remember his passage through our house with a mural on one of the walls of the court," says Quique.
That step occurred
during the summer of 1991
.
Maradona - suspended from football for a case of doping in the Italian tournament after the 1990 World Cup - visited the place with his then-wife, Claudia Villafañe.
The way Diego arrived at the Lugar del Sol headquarters was also quite curious.
It all started that same 1991, shortly before the visit, during a
Rata Blanca
recital
organized by the Municipality of Berazategui.
“We went to see it with the adolescents and young people from our homes, since many of them listened to them because they sang to them from their reality and in their own language.
Then we greet them and invite them to visit our home and the Casa del Niño Rucalhué (at 369B and 315, in the La Colina neighborhood of Ranelagh, "recalls Spinetta.
"After that visit," he continues, "they met Diego Maradona in a
Marcelo Tinelli program
and invited him to come and see the place. Diego accepted immediately."
"Hairdressing" for Diego.
Maintenance is weekly.
The visit was Diego style.
“He challenged us to play a snack on the soccer field of the Casa del Niño.
Of course, his arrival revolutionized the neighborhood, and thousands of people came to greet him.
Diego came with
Claudia, Dalma and Giannina,
who were little, they were the age of many of the boys in the boy's house.
He played for a while, it was a lot of fun.
He also brought us kitchen utensils and soccer balls.
And a few weeks later he gave us some bows and nets.
His visit was unforgettable, not only for the boys and girls of our house, but for the entire neighborhood.
Many adults still remember their time in the neighborhood today, ”says Quique.
The mural was painted by José Pérez, one of the educators of the child's house, with the help of Spinetta and the youth of the institution.
And they took advantage of a tree to make Diego's characteristic mane.
"It is a common ivy", they explain in the foundation.
It requires weekly maintenance.
"He has his hairdressers. We call them
'the hairdressers of D10S,'
" they joke.
Similarly, the mural is cared for by Peréz, who supervises that the air and climate do not wear down the paint, which is usually reinforced whenever it is needed.
The mural was painted in October 2020, for the 60 years of the Ten.
“Today, this mural is a must for everyone who visits the house.
Everyone wants to take a picture there, especially since Diego passed into eternity.
With this, we wanted to express that he is here among us because the boys and girls of the neighborhoods of Greater Buenos Aires have dreams as beautiful as he had, and the adults must be there, accompanying them ”, affirms Quique, who sees the soccer player as an angel or an "inspiration" for the Chicos del Pueblo organization, which is throughout the country and in each neighborhood trying to build happy lives within the fields, classrooms, and squares.
It was that organization that created Lugar del Sol, with the aim of helping "the most humble children in the Argentine Republic."
The Casa del Niño Rucalhué has been in the
Berazategui district since 1988.
Diego in 1991 at the Foundation.
He was a Napoli player and was suspended.
“It is a day center that provides food and community life service in the school shift.
More than 300 boys between the ages of 2 and 14
attend
.
During the pandemic, the boys and their families were assisted from the preparation and delivery of food, ”explains Quique, adding that throughout the year 500 food items were prepared and delivered daily.
“We would tell Diego that childhood is urgent.
That together with him we are working day by day men and women who carry out a silent task in each neighborhood.
That in his name, we are next to the boys and girls who need him the most.
The children's houses, the neighborhood clubs, the youth centers and the public programs that accompany these proposals are the best tribute we can do to them.
Our houses and fields are the best guarantee so that kids can live a happy childhood every day ”, he concludes.
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