For the Love of Hockey - Angolan Style

Luanda — Hockey is popular in Angola, but not the 'ice' kind because of the climate.  The game of roller hockey is similar to ice hockey but played on an indoor, hard surfaced rink of one of three standard sizes (a minimum of 34x17 meters, an average of 40x20 and a maximum of 44x22).   Roller hockey was a demonstration rollersport at the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona.

Recently, the launching ceremony of the 41st Roller Hockey World Cup, to be hosted for first time in Africa and Angola on 20-28 September in 2013 in the provinces of Luanda and Namibe, marks a great moment for history of this sport.  

The top official of CIRH (Committee International Roller Hockey) informed the press during its rewarding ceremony that the cup will conducted on a high standard, due to the efforts made by the Angolan authorities and the organizational capacity of Angola.  Angola was deemed to be efficient in organizing international events under CIRH such as the holding of the first world club championship in 2006 and the African clubs championship in 2008. (Angola Press)

Angolan Training Boosts Human Capital

(Luanda) With seven children from his wife and another six fathered in distant provinces where he fought in the war, 54-year-old José Simão describes his life in the past as just "fighting and making babies”.  

In October he took a short masonry course at the Acreditar Luanda unit, which includes three classrooms, a laboratory and a library, and is located in Zango, one of the neighborhoods that is part of the Population Resettlement Program, a government initiative implemented by Odebrecht to relocate families displaced by urban redevelopment or unsafe housing.

Odebrecht is currently Angola's largest private employer, with some 20,000 workers hired directly. Ninety-three percent of its work force is made up of Angolans.

Odebrecht’s first work in Angola – the Capanda hydroelectric power plant – served “as a school to train an elite” group of technicians, who are currently holding senior positions in the government and in business, says Justino Amaro, the first Angolan to sit in Odebrecht Angola’s board of directors.

Training workers is an essential part of every project implemented by Odebrecht. As of mid 2012, 79,000 Angolans had benefited from the company’s training programmes. University student recruits receive special training and are groomed to occupy senior positions in the company.

In major projects, Odebrecht also offers technical training for the population living in the surrounding areas, preparing any interested young people – not just potential employees – for construction jobs. These technical courses are provided through the company’s Acreditar program, which so far has trained some 3,000 workers in its three Angola units.

Odebrecht’s corporate social responsibility actions, which include providing poor communities with running water, schools, electricity and recreational opportunities, bolster the cooperation-for-development image projected by the company through its construction activities.

This is especially valuable in Angola, a country that is still being built after 37 years of independent life, and which is undergoing a process of post-war reconstruction. (IPS News Agency)