Barcelona’s and Argentina’s all-time best player, Lionel Messi has donated Ksh23 million to fund a project in Kenya.
Messi donated the cash through his charitable organisation towards a United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) project in the country.
The money will be used to build a water pump and supply food supplements. The project will also provide access to running water in homes and primary schools and will benefit 2,000 people.
Children will each get two
Messi’s charitable work is often targeted towards helping children, which is attributed to the hardship the Barcelona star suffered as a child.
Since he was 11, he would undergo intravenous treatment every night for three years to help strengthen his legs and counter the growth deficiency he had suffered.
It is for this reason that the footballer spends much of his time and money away from the pitch to help disadvantaged children.
In 2007, he set up the Lionel Messi Foundation, which has since gone on to help medical research and fund medical centres around the world.