Based on materials from the website - By InitVerse
On June 14, 2025, at the 'Arena Brahma' stadium in the Jardim Peri area in northern São Paulo, the InitVerse team, together with the Brazilian charity A.A. Garotos de Ouro, organized a charity match for 47 young football players, heavily influenced by local drug trafficking and poverty. This was InitVerse's second charitable initiative in the real world after our 'From Channels to Classes' project in Benin, and our first implementation of the mission 'technologies driving the progress of humanity' in Brazil, the heart of football.
The name A.A. Garotos de Ouro translates from Portuguese as 'Golden Boys.' The organization, founded in one of the largest favelas in São Paulo, has been building a safety net through football for over ten years. They have rescued children from drug-infested streets, turned abandoned lots into training fields, and even nurtured a few players ready to compete in professional leagues. When local InitVerse ambassadors Stephanie and Arthur entered this barbed-wire-fenced area, the coach pointed to the rusty gate and said:
"These children play not just for football — they play for courage and hope."
At 3:00 PM, the sun scorched the artificial turf, but the fire in the children's eyes burned even brighter. We brought 25 brand new shirts with the embroidered InitVerse logo, 50 portions of fresh meals, and gift boxes with sweets for Children's Day. When 11-year-old Enzo received the jersey, he instinctively buried his face in it, took a deep breath, and said:
"I really like this jersey. It feels like mine."
He often had to share a worn-out training shirt with other children.
"I wake up at five in the morning to help my mom, then I have lunch. If we manage to play football during the day, that’s just wonderful. We play until sunset because it’s unsafe at night." Carlos rolled up his sock, revealing a scar on his leg: 'I got it when I was running away from a gang shootout last year. But the coach told me that Ronaldo has a scar too — it’s a champion's medal.'
As with the charitable initiative 'NFT Charity' on Lake Ganvie in Benin, the development of the child's spiritual world is now at the center of all of InitVerse's charitable efforts. While child poverty is inevitable, perhaps they have the courage and dreams to change their lives. These children bring their dreams to life thanks to InitVerse. We reject tragic stories of replacing donation boxes with boxes of sweets. Friendly matches erase the stigma of slums in their usage.
"We are here to help these children stay on the path paved by football, dreams, and courage."
Colorful graffiti depicting football stars on buildings in the distance, as well as rusty gates in the background, created an impressive contrast when the final whistle blew, and the children ran to the camera with posters saying 'Web3 sees your dreams.' Coach A.A. Garotos de Ouro told us: 'Today a child asked me: “Which club is InitVerse?”' 'I told him that it is the Web3 club that believes poor children deserve bigger dreams.'
Web3 cannot demolish favelas overnight — but it can make dreams visible.
Perhaps Web3 cannot level slums to the ground overnight, but when 22 'Golden Boys' run across the field in shirts with the same embroidered logo, the most touching value of blockchain, which allows us to see the invisible, is revealed. In the documentary, Neymar said: 'Football doesn’t provide all the answers, but it gives us the opportunity to ask questions.' The adventures of InitVerse help charity so that the world can hear more of these 'silenced questions.'
What’s next?
Records and interviews with these children will be continuously stored on the INIChain network. We are working on the 'Football Dream NFT' project, in which key moments when these young boys score goals will be transformed into digital badges. The funds raised from future sales can be used to create a charitable foundation.