Africa-Press – Cape verde. Ludmila Sofia Oliveira Varela, “Lú”, dreams of representing Cape Verde in the Olympic Games through volleyball. In addition to being a sportsman, she is a “militant” for various causes, which include social and environmental issues.
Born in Assomada, Ludmila Varela is 27 years old, and in this week that marks World Youth Day, August 12, here’s how she presents herself:
“I am a biologist by training and an international beach and indoor volleyball player, I have been part of the Cape Verdean volleyball team since 2013. I am also a miss, having already had three titles, namely Miss Santa Catarina, Miss Universidade de Cabo Verde , Miss Popular and Second Lady Miss Cape Verde”.
In addition, Ludmila also acts as a jury and organizes fashion events and, as a biologist and environmentalist, she worked at the Santa Catarina City Council in the area of environment and sanitation. She currently works in the National Assembly.
As an athlete, Ludmila guarantees that there are no jokes when it comes to training. “I change almost everything and do the impossible to dedicate myself to volleyball and, whenever I can, I take the opportunity to train with my colleagues, and sometimes alone or with my sister to increase my abilities and skills and of course have fun”.
Olympic Games
Ludmila Varela discovered her passion for volleyball at the age of 12 and now intends to go further, in what she hopes to represent Cape Verde in the Olympic Games, in the volleyball modality.
“My passion arose at Liceu Amílcar Cabral, in physical education classes, at the age of 12, where I had my first contact with volleyball, and since then I continued to practice the sport”, he says.
Today, he adds, “my biggest dream is to one day be able to participate in the Olympic Games, representing my country at the highest level in the Beach Volleyball modality alongside my blood partner, my sister Janice Varela”.
This young athlete has already received several international and national awards in the modality that motivates her to set new challenges. In fact, she recently received an international award that she says was “very remarkable”.
“I received it from the director general of the World Health Organization, it was my third recognition award for the contribution I have made to health through sport, as a high-performance athlete and ambassador of the national physical activity program, the Mexi program. Shake”.
beyond sport
Ludmila also shows other facets, in addition to volleyball, as she feels very connected to the world of fashion, nature and the environment.
“I always went to the rural environment on vacation with my grandmother, going to the countryside to help with homework, hiking, going to the beach and playing with pets, all of this created my relationship with the course I took in biological sciences. ”.
At a social level, Ludmila says she is a dynamic young woman with a spirit of solidarity, available to give her contribution in everything she considers important in the lives of other people, hence having joined several voluntary associations, organizations fighting for conservation and environmental preservation. .
Obviously, harmonizing all these responsibilities and tasks is not an easy task. Even so, he says, “I always find a solution. Normally, indoor and gym volleyball training takes place at night, which makes work easier, without affecting the working period, while beachvolley training that takes place on the sea beaches takes place during the day on weekends”.
And in this he points out: “Work is always a priority, because I do sport for love, to provide my physical and psychological health and to live with people, because unfortunately in Cape Verde it is still not professionalized”.
Asked about the role of young people in today’s society, this time on the occasion of World Youth Day, August 12, our interviewee responds: “Young people have a fundamental role in any society as they are active agents in social and economic development, of a region and not only”.
By the way, still on the subject of World Youth Day, Ludmila Varela leaves a message especially for the other young people who, like her, want to make their dreams come true every day: “To never give up on your dreams because life only has real meaning when we do what that we love Because when we do what we love, we have a better chance of achieving success. All the barriers that we encounter on the way are what make us a winner. If we are capable of dreaming, it is because we are also capable of realizing”.
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