Sadio Mané is one of the most famous soccer players in the world. Humble, tireless worker, he has never forgotten his roots. His parents still live in the small town of Banbali, in southern Senegal, where he was born and raised.
As a teenager, he expressed his desire to play soccer professionally. His parents tried to dissuade him, because for a poor Senegalese that was impossible. They insisted that he should concentrate on his schoolwork. But Sadio, determined to prove them wrong, dedicated his heart, soul and life to football. And that dedication was ultimately rewarded. The first firm step crystallized when he was acquired by the Generation Foot Academy in Dakar. In 2011 he headed to France when the city of Metz hired him to play for their team. He today he is the star of Liverpool FC in England, with a salary of approximately 200,000 dollars per week.
However, Mané is not one of the pretentious. He doesn't overspend either. Recently on the networks they reported – photos included – that he was seen in many places with broken mobile phones. “Why does someone who earns almost 1 million dollars a month walk around with broken cell phones?” was the question that many were asking. I started looking for the answer and found it on Quora (https://en.quora.com/What-is-the-most-heartbreaking):
"When he was asked about it, he said he would fix it."
"Why not buy a new one?"
“I can buy a thousand. Also ten Ferraris, two jets, Diamond watches or many other things, but I said to myself: 'what do I need all this for?' I suffered poverty and then I could not learn. But now I built schools so that the children could learn. I played without shoes, I didn't have good clothes, I didn't have food. I have so much today that I want to share it with my people instead of bragging. What will these objects do for me and the world? I don't need to display fancy cars, fancy houses, trips, and even airplanes. I prefer that my people receive a little of what life has given me».
And so it has been: Mané is frugal with himself and generous with others. He recently paid for the improvement of the local mosque, observant Muslim that he is. He donated $57,000 to help fight the coronavirus in Senegal, "a breath of fresh air," according to the country's health authorities. On his social networks, he strongly supported the campaign to take things seriously and instructed his followers to wear masks, wash their hands properly and sanitize regularly.
In 2018 he donated $280,000 to build a school in Banbali. In July 2019, Mané visited his hometown to personally supervise the construction site and make sure everything was running smoothly. "Education is very important. This is what will allow them to have a good career », he told the children.
Perhaps the most incredible thing that Mané has done was go to help a teammate clean the toilets of the Al-Rahma mosque in Liverpool, where he professes his faith, hours after a victory against Leicester City. He was cleaning the toilet without realizing that he was being filmed. And he strongly asked the owner of the video not to upload it to the networks, because he was not doing it to promote himself, but to help his friend.
When his bus arrives at a destination, those who unload the luggage have a helping hand in Mané that helps them. And in the most desolate areas of Senegal, Mané contributes 100 dollars a month as help for each family.
When I read his story, I thought of all these trashy revolutionaries we have in Venezuela. His love for the poor lasted until they discovered how easy it was to steal the National Treasure. After getting rich, they don't help anyone, because they never wanted to help anyone. Giordani's words resound in my memory: "The revolution needs the poor."
The world's poor need people like Sadio Mané, who help them out of poverty. Not to those who use them to become grossly rich and worse still, obscenely indifferent.
@cjaimesb
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