In past centuries, the 'civilized' societies have exploited the resources in African countries, focusing only on how they could benefit and holding the indigenous people as slaves, with no regard for their well-being and no willingness to help them to advance.” Julia Herráiz, a student of a high school in Cuenca and selected as one of 12 award-winning projects for the Connecting Africa contest organized by Red Deporte, expressed this same conviction in her project.

At 17 years old, Julia seems less than optimistic about the immediate future of Africa. 'The majority of people that rise to power [in Africa] are only concerned with making themselves richer at the expense of their fellow countrymen and that has caused the current crisis in Africa. I don’t think the politics will change as leaders continue to meet but never agree on any way to alleviate suffering and equalize the society.' However, she thinks that if something changes, it will be 'because of the action of entities and organizations with no profit incentiv'” and because of the action of the people: 'That is where the wealth of the country can be found.' These ideas are reflected in a statuette made by Julia, in which two hands, one with the colors of the Spanish flag and the other with the colors of the South African flag are brought together by a ball.

The idea present in the project is that sports unite people. This is also the idea of Lidia Domínguez, from Valladolid, reflected in her painting of an African face with features represented by different sports. It’s also evident in the small statue depicting a player by Carlota González with each half of the body a distinct color, a contrast explained with more detail in her written project: 'I was intending to unite various Spanish schools with a South African school: We could bring education and sports to their society, and we could concern ourselves a bit more with their [African] customs'.

Julia, Lidia and Carlota are part of a group made up of 12 Spanish youth that leave on June 19 for South Africa, to live with other boys and girls from South Africa, as host of the first-ever World Cup held on African soil.