17 - 23 May 2001
Issue No.534
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 17 - 23 May 2001 Issue No.534 |
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A special cause
Egypt basked in the glow of hosting a unique conference on the mentally disabled while the head of Special Olympics International says he has plans to expand in a big way. Abeer Anwar reports
It was the first conference of its kind. The premiere of the leadership conference on the care of the mentally retarded in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) drew members from 24 countries representing the region. They discussed ways of developing employment services, the role of youth in volunteer work, exchange programmes, community services, sports and competition, organisational development and vocational services training.
Mrs Mubarak kisses Mena, a mentally disabled 10-year-old who played the part of Molly in "Annie." Holding Mena's hand is lead actress Nevine
photo: Mustafa Attia
Organised by Special Olympics International (SOI) in cooperation with the Friendly Family Association, Melwood USA, Best Buddies International and Misr Language Schools, the opening session was attended by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, honorary president of Special Olympics Egypt, (SOE), who praised the efforts being made to increase the involvement of the mentally disabled in society, especially in sports. Mrs Mubarak said all governmental and national associations should offer help to the disabled so that they can discover their talents and abilities.
"Egypt is making history by being the first to hold this international conference in leadership and training people, volunteers and families on how to deal with the mentally retarded," Timothy Shriver, SOI president, said.
The opening included the play "Annie" in which both mentally handicapped and able-bodied performers acted. "We should take this play as a model and apply it to other countries. Annie provided public awareness and inclusion in the society and that is the best practice of inclusion of the mentally disabled in society," Lee Todd, SOI chief operational officer, said after the show.
Todd explained how the SOI developed a plan to increase the number of athletes. "We resorted to a professional consulting organisation to look at SOI as a professional business," he said. "They provided us with a plan to increase the number of athletes and to change from centralisation, where everyone reports to the SOI headquarters in Washington, to decentralisation where six continents will have regional offices and each will report to the SOI. The offices and their managing directors will best know how to increase the number of athletes in their region."
There will be an annual evaluation after four meetings all year round where all six offices' managing directors will meet and put forward regional and global plans and exchange ideas.
"What we are looking for is quality growth but we should not lose sight of athletes and their needs in reaching our target," Todd said.
David Quilleon, director of Best Buddies International, stressed the importance of the programme for the mentally disabled. "We have to care for one athlete at a time and not lose them because this is the most important thing. Through friendships, handicapped athletes feel they are satisfied, they are cared for and they have fun and enjoy a normal life along the way."
In choosing MENA Managing Director Ayman Abdel-Wahab, Todd said he was looking for some very important qualities: leadership, a grasp of the Special Olympics movement and a passion for athletes. "He has to be a professional businessman and a humble man as well," he added. "This all applies to Abdel-Wahab."
"This [the conference] is the first step in our five-year plan to increase the number of athletes in the region to 110,000," Abdel-Wahab said. "We will not be able to reach our goal except by training a number of cadres so that each one starts a Special Olympics programme in his country because I can't reach everyone in 24 countries. After training them, we'll give them time to apply what they learnt in their national programmes. Then will follow a number of site visits to know how well the programmes are doing and whether they are on the right track."
One million more
Timothy Shriver has big ideas. The CEO and president of Special Olympics International (SOI) wants the 33-year-old movement to include one million more athletes with mental disabilities. "We currently serve 1.2 million mentally handicapped athletes the world over which is on the one hand very exciting but also disappointing because there are 170 million mentally retarded people in the world so we have a great deal of work to do. We have to increase our programmes to double the number of athletes and we have prepared a plan to add one million athletes by the end of 2005."
Timothy Shriver
The plan, Shriver says, includes targeting specific countries and continents with growth strategies, new leadership, new financial investments, and special events and sponsors to support the development.
In Egypt to attend "The First Leadership Conference in the field of the Mentally Retarded Care for the Middle East and North Africa," held under the auspices of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, honorary president of Special Olympics Egypt (SOE), Shriver said his grand plan would be helped by a more streamlined system. "We have divided the world into six regions: Latin America, North America, Asia Pacific, MENA, Central Africa and Europe. All the work will be centred in regional offices. We are training experts to be brought in to help countries in their region instead of heading to the SOI's main headquarters in Washington DC. That's why we have a new office in Cairo representing the Middle East and North Africa."
Shriver stressed the importance of sports to disabled people. "The first thing sports do is provide fun. It is important for everyone to have some recreation. Secondly, it gives people pride because in sports, those with mental disabilities can learn how to kick a ball, play tennis. So there is a sense of pride and achievement that they have done something right. Thirdly, it shows families that everyone can contribute and can make a difference."
"This is how families become involved in the programme and this is how SOI succeeds. It has to be one family where people help and support each other."
He told the Weekly that teaching children about the travails of mentally retarded individuals must be given due attention. "Attitudes are formed at a young age so it is very important to teach children at an early age that the mentally retarded can learn, achieve and participate in anything. This is contrary to what many people think, so we need to change their attitudes and the best time to change these beliefs is when you are young. School children can be taught this as part of their curriculum because a child is curious. They want to know why a child is not learning quickly enough, what is wrong with this child and what is different about another. If we explain all this at an early age -- that a child is different, that a child can learn but it will take longer, that a child loves television as you do, he likes to play and have fun as you do -- this will help children to develop positive attitudes about the mentally retarded."
Shriver said such a programme will be established in schools where normal children can learn about children with lesser abilities. "It will begin in several countries including the United States, Australia, China and Germany," he said.
Shriver notes that the Egyptian experience has been "a shining light in the region. From 500 athletes to 12,000 in four years, it has been a successful one. Even though Egypt has the most extraordinary history, I think right now we are making history in Egypt." He praised Mrs Mubarak for having made "a huge difference. She is unique in what she is doing for the mentally disabled," he said, adding that he had requested her to help other first ladies to do the same.
Shriver also singled out Ismail Osman, SOE chairman, Magda Moussa, SOE president and MENA Managing Director Ayman Abdel-Wahab for praise. "Abdel-Wahab has done a great job with the Egyptian programme and now is taking on the greater challenge of the MENA region."
Shriver said there was great public awareness in Egypt about the SOI. "People know about the Special Olympics programme. You have very big companies supporting the movement as sponsors. You have the government, laymen, educators, health care people, all supporting the athletes. We want to take this model and experience elsewhere in the world."
Shriver called the 2001 Alaska World Winter Games, staged earlier this year, the best games in SOI history. "The venues and housing were excellent, we had the least number of complaints and the rules were fairly applied."
"The most important thing in Alaska is that there were spectators, indicating how much public support there was." He said judo and cricket would be introduced to the coming Games.
As for his hopes for the future, Shriver was bursting with optimism. "I hope to see a whole community respond, come together and support our athletes. When this happens, I think we would have succeeded."
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