Transcribed from the newspaper O Globo, January 8

Since the world isn't all misery, sometimes you find wonderful surprises in completely unexpected places. I always pass by Flamengo, there in Lagoa, and all I see is the red and black wall, a great backdrop for various photos. The other day, at the insistence of my friends Heliana and Bernadete, I changed my routine and went in. I knew Flamengo from when my children were kids: the club was always friendly, but it couldn't be more run-down. Well, it has changed a lot! I found it lively and well-kept. On the land back where there used to be a dismal dump, with rubble and all sorts of waste, I found a beautiful plant nursery, with a vegetable garden and several species of ornamental plants. Braga, the member who "took over" the land, told me that the beauty of the small garden goes beyond what meets the eye: boys from underprivileged communities are being trained as gardeners, and some have already found jobs outside the club. Right now, seven boys who used to juggle at the traffic lights are there, learning, among other things, the importance of earthworms: "We raised some red California earthworms that are spectacular," Braga said excitedly, offering me a perfect rose growing on a nearby plant. "They're fed with food scraps. We recycle everything." Luiz Paulo Segond, vice-president of the so-called Fla-Gávea team, added that 200 truckloads of garbage were removed to make room for the plants. I liked him, a calm engineer who runs the club like any good condominium should: with the help of the members, each in their own specialty and according to their time and availability. Later, while having coffee at Boca Maldita, I struck up a conversation with a woman next to me. Sandra Valéria, mother of Barbara Lima, a beautiful 14-year-old Brazilian 100m butterfly runner-up, managed to create a small room where the children could leave their backpacks while training, and where the mothers could spend time while waiting for their children. It didn't take much: just a small space, half a dozen chairs, a television. And the main ingredients: goodwill and a lack of bureaucracy. There are many ideas sprouting behind the wall that I now view with greater interest. When members get involved with a club of that size and find encouragement to do so, there's reason to celebrate. After all, what's happening at Flamengo is, at its core, a beautiful exercise in citizenship.