By: Armindo Martins Tavares*
Africa-Press – Cape verde. Jorge Teixeira de Pina was in Cape Verde this week, where he gave a talk at the Escola Portuguesa de Cabo Verde in Palmarejo, in the city of Praia, for 7th year students, about his life path and how he came to see more and better after becoming blind in the eyes. Well, now he sees more deeply, because he sees with his heart.Jorge Teixeira de Pina, son of Cape Verdean parents, was raised in Angola and was born in Portimão, Algarve – Portugal, in 1976, during the hustle and bustle of the April revolution and the saga of refugees who in Cape Verde were nicknamed “ Txitxarinhu” (little whistles). Because, refugees from Angola arrived in droves to the colonies and the metropolis, similar to schools of chicharrinhos that were caught in nets every day, mainly in the sea of Areia Grande in Pedra Badejo in the municipality of Santa Cruz. He grew up in Rego, in the municipality of Lisbon, where he studied and completed the former 7th year of high school, now the 11th year. Without conscience and eager to enjoy everything that young people want and think that they have the right to at any cost, Jorge Pina delinquents through the streets of Greater Lisbon in parodies between drugs and drinking, until one day, Mr. Joaquim Silveira, known as MOKA, who was a boxing coach, convinced him to abandon the streets and embrace the boxing ring. He was 11 years old. He fell in love immediately and, during his training, he won several competitions in different categories until he reached the senior and elite stages. He stood out very early on as a highly competitive athlete in national boxing, having won several titles at various levels. He participated and won 3 consecutive championships, in the 67, 71 and 75 kg categories. He made his 1st international in Spain. He competed as a professional in the USA and won two victories in two fights, one by KO in the first round.
He fought in Spain and felt he had done an excellent performance. However, he was awarded the defeat and the opponent the victory. The following year, duly prepared to make up for that slight, he learned at the last minute that his opponent could not fight, because there was a medical prescription that he could go blind if he fought. And Jorge Pina, unable to contain his anger and indignation at yet another gratuitous defeat, said without reason: “Well done.” And this was a manifestation of his satisfaction at the possibility of his opponent becoming blind.
However, everything was going wonderfully well for him, until, at the age of 27, during training in which he was preparing to try to achieve the title of World Champion, he suffered an injury (retinal detachment) that led him to undergo emergency surgery on the left eye. And unfortunately, due to the negligence of a trainee doctor, he became blind in that eye. He then underwent surgery on his right eye, which also went wrong. Jorge Pina was left blind.
After losing his vision, he studied and completed the 12th grade. He became a Paralympic athlete and, as such, in 2008 he participated in the Beijing Paralympic Games; 2012 in London and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. In 2020, when he was preparing for the Tokyo marathon, he suffered a vertebrae injury and ended up withdrawing. Even so, driven by an unusual resilience, Pina ordered the construction of a Tandem bicycle [adapted for the blind] and began paracycling. In 2023, before World Youth Day, he cycled from Lisbon to the Vatican in Rome.
And with the aim of distributing what sport gave him, Jorge Pina decided to create an Association in 2011, with a view to helping disadvantaged children and young people with special educational needs. He knocked on many doors asking for support and, finally, in 2014, the Lisbon City Council – CML, gave him a space with an area of 1,700 m2. A completely degraded space, full of holes and in need of recovery. It had no plumbing or sewage; it was infested with rats and other filth; a pleasant place where young people went to take drugs. The total arrangement was budgeted at €400,000 – more than forty thousand Cape Verdean contos. However, given the viability of the project, CML immediately made 60% available and Associação JORGE PINA provided the remaining 40%. And so the ACADEMIA JORGE PINA was built, in Bairro do Armador, in Marvila, with various types of sport. Boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, wrestling, MMA, KRAV MAGA, weight training gym, a 60m athletics track, a training room, a kids’ study room to support study and computers, a meditation space with representation of all religions in a graffiti created by @DasNevesArt. It has several projects such as: an adapted athletics school, a goalball team for the blind, a boxing team, MOV’in for people with special educational needs and for people over 55, among others.
Jorge Teixeira de Pina was in Cape Verde this week, where he gave a talk at the Escola Portuguesa de Cabo Verde in Palmarejo, in the city of Praia, for 7th year students, about his life path and how he came to see more and better after becoming blind in the eyes. Well, now he sees more deeply, because he sees with his heart.
This takes us back to Greek mythology, when the soothsayer Tiresias, blind in both eyes, said to the mad Creon, king of the city of Thebes in ancient Greece:
– I am blind. But you, Creon, are the ones who don’t see.
Jorge Pina will return next April, where he will give several lectures, in partnership with APISE – Associação Apadrinhar Para Inclusion e Sucesso Educativo – with its headquarters in Palmarejo. He should be with the students from the Escola Básica Obrigatória de António Nunes, from Agrupamento IX in Calabaceira, among other schools that may be interested.
For More News And Analysis About Cape verde Follow Africa-Press
