Eduarda dos Santos, 16, is a student and swimmer from the Salesian Institute in Salvador, Bahia State. She has received a letter from the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) inviting her to carry the Olympic Torch Rio 2016 on 24 May when the torch will pass through the city of Salvador. And even though there are still several weeks to go, she is already following all the guidelines of the Committee.
Eduarda is one of the most promising Olympic swimmers from Bahia. "Doing swimming at the Salesian Institute is important for me, because I live near the school. I think I can participate in the Olympics in 2020 and I want to bring the medals to Brazil. Swimming is part of my life. It gives me a promising future and a lot of opportunities," she says.
Another Salesian student who has been selected is Jessika Azevedo, just 13 years old, a student at the Salesian educational centre of Natal. Her task will be to carry the Paralympic torch during its passage through the state of "Rio Grande do Norte".
A student in Year 8, Jessika is a para-athlete who competes in the sport of bowling. She says she is very happy at her selection, as well as being surprised. "I knew I had been pre-selected, but when it was confirmed I could not believe it," she said.
Jessika is still too young to participate in the Paralympics in Rio, but she says she is training for a national school tournament to be held at the end of the year, when she will represent the Salesian school in Natal.
Eduarda and Jessika are shining examples of the importance given to sport in Salesian education. As Pope Francis said on 21 June 2015 at Valdocco: "What did Don Bosco do? He introduced sport, because sport makes the young person grow as a social being, with a healthy competitiveness, and it inculcates the beauty of working together."
