Special Consultative Status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council
International Sport Internship
CHINA 2017
45 YEARS 1972 2017 of bilateral relations between the Argentine Republic and the People's Republic of China
Within the framework of the celebration of 45 years of bilateral relations between the Argentine Republic and the People's Republic of China, the Pro Humanae Vitae Foundation and the Ministry of Social Development of Buenos Aires Province, through the Undersecretary of Sports, launched the International Sports Internship Program. Through this program, a group of 29 young athletes from Buenos Aires traveled to the city of ChengDu, capital of Sichuan Province, and to the city of Dinjengyan, to share experiences and friendly soccer matches with young Chinese people. The launch of the program took place in the Town Hall of Quilmes on May 19th, 2017. There was a formal introduction of the teams that would travel to China. The female team was formed by 13 players from the Pilar and the male team consisted on 16 players from Trenque Launquen, both finalists of the Buenos Aires 2016 Sports Games. The Minister of Social Development of Buenos Aires Province, Mr. Santiago López Medrano, and the Director of Microcredit of Buenos Aires Province, Mr. Matias Zappino, were present at the event, as well as the Undersecretary of Sports of the Buenos Aires Province, Mr. Pablo Fuentes, the Mayor of Quilmes, Mr. Martiniano Molina, the Executive Director of the Pro Humanae Vitae Foundation, Mr. Rafael Velázquez, and its President, Ms. Graciela Sánchez.
Sports Agenda
May 25th First friendly football match between the women's team from Pilar, Buenos Aires, and the team from the Secondary School N°18 in ChengDu city.
May 25th The second friendly football match pitted the men's team from Trenque Lauquen, Buenos Aires, against the team from Hiaxi Secondary School. The Argentinian team won by 2 goals to 1.
May 26th Tanghu Secondary School of Foreign Languages. In the match between women’s teams that took place in the morning of this day, the local players won by 2 goals to 1. On the contrary, Argentinian men’s team that played at 2.30pm won by 5 goals to 2.
May 29th In the city of Dujiangyan, Adrian Domenech, a well-known ex- football player in Argentina, gave a clinic and carried out training techniques for Chinese coaches and players, and then played friendly matches in the middle of the pitch.
May 30th Within the tourist circuit of the Dujiangyan Mountain, the young athletes practiced Tai Chi with a group of students and teachers from a local school.
Cultural Agenda
May 25th The Argentinian teams walked through the streets of Chengdu and contemplated the Sichuan Opera House. Then they went to Fuli Square where they shared a typical dinner with dishes such as: jellyfish, tofu, soups, tomato juice, sweet and sour pork. Besides, they practiced the art of eating with chopsticks.
May 26th The young Argentines had the opportunity to take part in a Chinese art workshop, where they learned the art of dyeing fabrics. Each of them received a white shirt and created their own design. They also took part in calligraphy lessons.
May 27th After playing the matches, the teams exchanged shirts, gifts and experiences. They then held a paper-cutting workshop.
May 28th In Dujiangyan children learnt about the local culture. They cooked ZONGZI, a typical meal that consists of wrapping glutinous rice in green leaves.
They also learned poetry and phonetics of the region, and, at lunchtime, they tried the Hot Pot.
May 29th The city of Dujiangyan has buildings that are hundreds of years old, has 750,000 inhabitants, and is located at the foot of a high mountain through which two spectacular rivers run, one natural and the other man-made.
Argentine players had the opportunity to visit the spectacular and historic Dujiangyan waterworks.
The ascent to the mountain was done by cable car. It is worth mentioning that although this ride is popular among the local population, it is not for foreign tourism. The young people had the singular privilege of getting to know places and customs that were not part of the usual Western tourist routes.
May 31st In the afternoon the young players arrived in Argentina.
China in Argentina In September of the same year, 53 young Chinese football players, coming from Chengdu, arrived in Argentina to participate in the finals of the Buenos Aires Youth Tournament, in a reverse mission framed in the FPHV Sports Residence Program.