Pau Gasol celebrates his 20th anniversary this Tuesday as ambassador of UNICEF. Two decades in which the former player has participated in numerous support projects in defense of the rights of the most vulnerable children in the world, including trips to South Africa, Angola, Ethiopia, Chad, Iraq, Lebanon and Bangladesh to learn first-hand about the reality of children and their families in different parts of the world and to better disseminate the work of this organization.
What balance do you make of these 20 years with UNICEF?
It goes far beyond a positive balance. They are lived and shared experiences of great depth. I am also a bit conditioned because I have just seen a video of all the trips I have made, which UNICEF has given me in celebration of these 20 years, and there are many emotions, many memories, many experiences of great depth, depth, meaning… When we started in 2003, I understood that I had the opportunity to do something else, something important for children. I believed and believe that UNICEF is the best ally to fight for the rights of children and to be able to contribute my grain of sand as an ambassador. From there, I have participated in many campaigns to publicize emergency situations at the human level in the world and to be able to protect and give opportunity to many boys and girls who are living in extreme conditions and many of them even dying. All this has contributed a lot to my life, apart from what I have been able to contribute to them.
How important is it that well-known faces, like yours, are committed to these types of causes?
It is very important that those of us who are lucky enough to have a great level of success and popularity, reach, influence, use it in a way that is positive and impacts those who need it most, that we can use it to do the good in the world. You can’t get involved with everything, but you can get involved in things that excite you, in which you believe and that can have an effect beyond ourselves. I have always said that the price, in quotes because I don’t like to call it that, of success is responsibility. When you have a certain level of success you have to use it for the greater good.
What do you remember of that June 20, 2003?
I started a process, throughout the year, to see which organization I could work with and which one made the most sense. I knew that I was very concerned about the children, the problems of childhood. For me UNICEF stood out above the rest. It is also a matter of tuning. I remember meeting, they proposing it and being excited because I would join or be named a goodwill ambassador and from there, go ahead: we signed the agreement and took a photo that they showed me today. He was 22 years old, on his way to 23, and very eager to help.
You started Medicine and your parents have always worked in the health sector. Have you always had that willingness to help others?
We have experienced it at home and that surely fostered that spirit. I can speak for myself although I think my brothers have it too; that desire to want to help, to give health the importance it has and, from our position, to contribute to making it better.
How would you define the work of UNICEF?
Fundamental and necessary for the well-being and for the global rights of children to be respected and, in this way, boys and girls, countries and communities that are going through extreme and emergency situations are much better off than they would be if UNICEF and his work did not exist.
How was that Pau who started with UNICEF and what is he like now?
I started at the age of 22 and during this time I have experienced a process of growth and maturity. On my first trip, to South Africa, I went with enthusiasm and desire, but also with a certain fear of the unknown, what I would find, what it would be like… It was a trip alone, without friends, without family, with two people of UNICEF and, mind you, one of them became the director of the Gasol Foundation almost ten years ago, which is Cristina Ribes. That was the first trip. Two years later we went to Angola and it was different, you see it from a perspective and with a lived experience, with two more years. Then we went to Ethiopia and decided to create a project with more impact to which we gave a name and a form, which was “The Pau project”, which was born with the aim of renovating and building schools to improve the schooling of boys and girls in southern Ethiopia, always promoting sport and incorporating it as a tool to attract boys and girls to school. And once health is cared for and the means for children to be healthy are provided, education is also encouraged. Now that I am a father, that I no longer play professional basketball, I see how everything has evolved. Also my role as a global advocate for nutrition and zero childhood obesity, aligned with what we do with our foundation. There are many things that have been growing and have also made us grow. I have grown up with UNICEF.
You have always had a special concern for childhood issues, but since you became a father, has this concern increased?
Clear. I have always had a high level of empathy and sensitivity, but now as a father with two children, it is older and I give more meaning to so many boys and girls with whom I have been able to interact throughout my history with UNICEF and with other initiatives. with whom I have collaborated. Obviously, I also try to spend a lot of time being present and taking care of my children and see how I can continue to contribute and be involved in other things.
In the trips you have made with UNICEF, did you find a reality worse than what you expected?
Usually much worse. The conditions and realities with which we found ourselves were very harsh, difficult to imagine coming from our society and our world, and it is not that obviously harsh, difficult, precarious and even extreme situations do not exist here, but in certain countries in a state of emergency is a thing from another dimension. They were very complicated experiences, difficult on an emotional level.
Within “Pau’s project” he promised to make a donation for each point he scored in the 2011 Eurobasket. How did he experience each basket in Lithuania?
I tried to promote various appeal initiatives, to encourage people to join, so that the donations and contributions would be greater. The matches where I donated an amount for each point motivated me, but I also didn’t want to interfere in the team’s game, shoot more. When you play official championships it is important that the team works well, but at the same time this initiative increased the importance of scoring them, because those two or three points had a greater meaning.
Another of the collaborations you have done with UNICEF is to record the story “Give a day”. What was that experience like?
Very good, a great experience. We have done different campaigns, always trying to add. I like to encourage reading and curiosity or concern for learning, the amount of unlimited knowledge that we have within our reach, beyond the Internet and technology. There have been many writers and writers who have left us a lot of knowledge. Having the habit of reading is important. For example, I read to my children and I want them to grow up understanding the importance and value of reading, as a healthy habit that will contribute a lot to your life.
How much has your work at UNICEF influenced you in creating the Gasol Foundation with your brother Marc?
Quite. UNICEF’s work is very important, but when we launched “El proyecto de Pau” the desire to create something arose, a foundation and a mission in which we had autonomy and freedom to apply and create alliances. This is how the idea of setting up our foundation was born.
Do you have any future projects or campaigns in the works?
Many. We are excited because we have managed to do very important things together with the Spanish Government and also with the launch of the plan against childhood obesity and now we are working so that this is on the agenda of the European Community and thus extend the work we are doing, giving more and more importance and relevance to the pandemic of childhood obesity, overweight, sedentary lifestyle, which have very serious consequences for society and the well-being of a country. Not only today, but also in the future, because the line continues to grow.
What would you say to people so that they contribute their bit to organizations like UNICEF?
I would encourage them to find out, to become members of UNICEF, to seek more and more ways of collaboration, information, involvement… I have met people and there are wonderful people at UNICEF, whose commitment to children is absolute. And I have also learned about the results and effects of this work, of this involvement, of this effort, and also of the donations, because I believe that Spain is one of the countries that is an example of support and involvement. We have to continue, because unfortunately the need is great, the problems are many, and support and involvement are important.
