Nuno Delgado's judo school celebrated WJD 2022, launching the #PadrinhosAdotivos (foster godparents) campaign and promoting inclusion through judo, in order to transform lives and create hope. Since its foundation, EJND has embraced several social inclusion projects which have changed views about the physical and mental capacity of everyone, regardless of their circumstances.
"This year, we created this initiative, not just for World Judo Day but for the whole 2022 and 2023 seasons, with the goal of giving to refugee children or national children with economic, social and family difficulties, access to the practice of judo. This makes us the godmothers and godfathers of those children. For this we also work with social associations," explained Nuno Delgado.
Anastasiia Rosokhata is the first ‘godchild’ of this project. She is a 9 year old girl who left Ukraine because of the war, arriving in Portugal in June, together with her mother and brother. With the support of EJND and the social solidarity association SOUMA, she already started judo classes twice a week, with a special follow-up, to strengthen her physical and mental condition. "More will follow, since we already started to receive calls from parents who want to contribute. For judo and for inclusion, we are standing together for a better world," added Nuno.