Lionel \u201cLeo\u201d Messi is arguably the world\u2019s best and most famous footballer, at least to his diehard legions of fans. As a celebrity, and his otherworldly skills on the pitch, there\u2019s little about him that could surprise anyone anymore, although he\u2019s still known for his sleight of hand wizardry on God\u2019s green turf to pull rabbits out of his hat at a sudden twist of his magical body with the ball glued magically to his feet.<\/p>\n
And now another most delightful, and definitely heartwarming, surprise to surface about this gem of a footballer is the revelation that, through his Lionel Messi Foundation, 15,000 destitute children in Mozambique are able to have breakfast daily because he pays for them.\u00a0And as the breakfast is served in the schools across Mozambique, this meal is also an incentive for them to attend and receive a proper education. And all this has been happening quietly since 2016 without any fanfare.<\/p>\n
The foundation\u2019s work and contributions are coordinated by an Argentinean missionary, Father Juan Gabriel Arias, who has been working in Mozambique for years.\u00a0Father Arias is the parish priest at the parish of San Benedict in Magundze, 150 miles from Maputo, the capital, and 22 miles from Xai Xai, the capital of the province of Gaza.<\/p>\n
The foundation\u2019s work has primarily served to ameliorate the plight of the children as they previously had to travel several kilometers to attend the region\u2019s school, and this major inconvenience resulted in a high rate of illiteracy. They also faced a much more serious blight as the area suffers prolonged periods of drought, resulting in a lack of food.\u00a0The children, as the missionary himself explained, sometimes only had enough food for one meal every one-and-a-half days, leading to severe malnutrition.<\/p>\n
The breakfast campaign of the Leo Messi Foundation ensures that 15,000 children from 40 schools receive food daily and attend school.\u00a0It\u2019s a direct way to contribute to the improvement of the country, which is among the poorest in the world.<\/p>\n