The contraction of bravo! and Raval would result in Braval. This is the name of a solidarity organization that has its epicenter in this neighborhood of Barcelona and which contributes so much to dignifying through sport and education. Coexistence, integration, tolerance and social cohesion are the axes of the entity, which this Thursday celebrated its 25 years of life in an event at Macba.
The highlight was a colloquium in which young people participated who once received help (more than 1,600 in this quarter of a century) and who are now volunteers to return a part of what they were given. This was highlighted by the moderator of the round table, who also has sentimental and family ties with Raval: the journalist and director of La Vanguardia, Jordi Juan.
Braval actually functions as a springboard, as a path to the social elevator. That was what Jordi Juan said when he introduced one of his fellow members, Marc Andrei, 22, who arrived from the Philippines when he was 11. Today he has university studies and works. Braval, where he went on the advice of a friend to play sports and to get help with his homework, has marked his life. “Without you I wouldn't be who I am today.”
Next to him, two people nodded and smiled: Pablo Garcia-Mussons, pedagogue, veteran volunteer and basketball coach, and Lita Agresor, also Filipino. This woman has been in her second country for 40 years; For four decades she has worked cleaning the institution. She has two children, a 32-year-old girl and a 34-year-old boy, both university students. The oldest also got ahead thanks to this entity, of which he is now a volunteer. They instilled in him, his mother said, “exemplary values such as effort, generosity, respect and responsibility.”
The organization has a sister, Terral, which focuses on socio-educational support for women. Both one entity and the other welcome people of all beliefs with an ecumenical spirit, although they follow the social path of the Catholic Church. And “the teachings of Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei,” as the second explains on its website.
In the first rows, along with institutional and political representatives, active or not, such as president Jordi Pujol, were the true protagonists. Young people like Cesc (forward), Samuel (forward), Nayer (point guard) and Kristoff (also forward), between 13 and 14 years old, players on one of Braval's six basketball teams, which also has six soccer teams.
Samuel doesn't want to admit it, but he is the star of the team. However, when asked who is the best, he answers: “Everyone. Only together can we win.” 100% Braval DNA. They haven't started the official competition yet, but the sensations are unbeatable. A few days ago they played a friendly and won 44-27. “You are in your house,” Elvira Dyangani, director of Macba and former basketball player and referee, told them.
“When you turn 50, I want to see more women,” said Ciutat Vella councilor Albert Batlle, who praised the entity. El Raval, he explained, is an “intense and dense” neighborhood, but rich for its people and “organizations like that.” Batlle recognized the work that this and other organizations, "many linked to the Church, such as the Roure Foundation, do for this neighborhood."
Josep Masabeu, the president of Braval, was congratulated for “25 years of magic.” And no, it's not magic, he replied. “It is solidarity, integration... And we have done it together.” Total eradication of absenteeism, 210 high school graduates, 310 vocational students, 27 university graduates (soon, 10 more), 580 contract workers... That is, without a doubt, his main pride: school success and work integration .
