Multistrada Turns the Dream of Indonesian Children into Reality
August 16, 2015
Jakarta – Marcellius Fanmakuni (13) from Alor NTT could not contain his excitement when he finally gets chosen to go to England and train for ten days at the Manchester United Soccer School in England, especially when he got the chance to watch the Red Devils take on Newcastle United at their home grounds “The Theatre of Dreams” Old Trafford. Although the scoreline ended 0-0 at the final whistle, it was still as if it was a dream becoming a reality for him, to watch and support his favourite team live in person.
Marcel, as he is known by his close friends and six other children which are, I Kadek Dwi Kuriawan (Tabanan, Bali), Pamungkas Budi Wibowo (Solo, Central Java), Ayub Abdul Aziz (Semarang, Central Java), Ahmad Wahyudi (Tulehu, Maluku), dan Jero Pratama (Padang, West Sumatra) and Robert Yawan Bedes (Papua) are the seven underprivileged yet very talented children who are lucky enough to get an all expense paid trip to train in England as part of the CSR program of PT Multistrada Arah Sarana Tbk, the producer of Achilles and Corsa.
Pieter Tanuri, President Director of PT Multistrada Arah Sarana Tbk said, “Through this CSR Program we want to give a chance to underprivileged children that have talent in football to gain their lifelong dream and help to the development of football as a sport through coaching and training activities.”
The seven children who came from underprivileged families departed from jakarta on August 14th 2015 and immediately attended the training program at Manchester United Soccer School. They received their training 60% from the pitch and 40% from class from the best coaches of Manchester United.
They are brave children and they managed to overcome the language barrier the encountered within the training, but with the coaching provided by the Kick Andy Foundation and their strong will and desire to succeed, they were able to get past that particular problem, although sometimes they still have to communicate using charades.
Some of the children even received awards from the school throughout the training, including Marcel who gained the title of “Best Defender”, Ahmad Wahyudi Marasabessy with the title of “Explosive Player” and Jero Pratama from Padang who was awarded as “Best Player”.
Multistrada as the official tire partner of Manchester United football club, has launched the CSR program, titled Gerakan Sejuta Bola or The Million Ball Movement, for the second time in partnership with the Kick Andy Foundation.
On the first year, the CSR program has reached more than 400 Soccer Schools in most regions throughout indonesia, while this year in 2015, the program reached nearly 600 Soccer Schools in all regions of Indonesia.
Other than coaching clinic for the children, this CSR program distributed footballs and other training equipments, and also held auditions for the children with great skill and mentality to get a chance to attend the national selections, which is held in Bali this year.
At the national selections, there are 41 children chosen which are later selected yet again by the Head Coach of the Manchester United Foundation Dave Chapman and Man United Relationship Director James Park to join the Manchester United Soccer School.
“We truly care about them, and will continue to take action in order to increase the growth of our nation’s sporting activities. Outside of this activitu, we also give sponsorships to motorsport activities including Drift and Motocross events, which some of our drivers had competed in International Formula Drift Competitions.” Pieter Tanuri added.
Football and Motorsport are among the most popular sports of the Indonesian youth and children. Through this event we want to reach out to them and continue to act in a positive manner no matter what it takes, as described by Pieter Tanuri.