The Athens 2004 Paralympic Games Special Initiative

ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games Dutch Special Initiative

In 2003 the Dutch government recognized the ability of sport to create societal change as well as the serious needs of persons with a disability living in less developed nations. Therefore the Dutch government created the Extra Impulse Paralympics Fund to support the development of sport for persons with a disability, specifically through the Paralympic Movement, in less developed nations. Due to a significant lack of resources in Paralympic sport development the Dutch Special Initiative was created as a next step in developing sustainable models of development for persons with a disability through sport.

Objectives

The goal of the Dutch Special Initiative was to provide an extra impulse to further develop sustainable opportunities, advocacy and quality of life for persons with a disability in developing nations through a human rights based approach. The project promoted the growth and sophistication of National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) and Paralympic athletes in developing nations through educational seminars, experiential learning, sports training and competition.

The project consisted of two seminars each for athletics and powerlifting, as well as the opportunity for some of the athletes, coaches and administrators to compete in an international competition in preparation and provide an extra-impulse to attend the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games.

Location

The nations participating in this project include Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and India. The trainings were held in Ethiopia and the Netherlands.

Targetgroup

The primary target group was persons with a physical disability, including persons with polio, amputations, and cerebral palsy. Participants included athletes, coaches, and administrators from each of the participating nations working with their National Paralympic Committees.

Use of sport

A partnership approach was used to implement the Dutch Special Initiative. With the funding coming from the Netherlands, Dutch expertise was used to organize and conduct the trainings. This worked well as the Dutch are leaders in international Paralympic development. In the future more regional experts will be used.

Throughout the project a number of trainings took place in a central location in Africa. Participants gathered with their peers to receive advanced training and education in their respective areas. The coaches received education through train the trainers methodology, which was then applied to the athletes who had both national and international coaches to work with and finally administrators had their own programme to develop the skills to lead a National Paralympic Committee. There were many weeks in between the sets of trainings to allow each participant to practice and grow in their own environment before returning for follow-up instruction.

Sport was the medium that brought together persons with different background but all having a few things in common - an interest in sport, the desire to help humanity, and the experience of being or working with persons with a disability. Many of the athletes participating in the programme had war-related disabilities and this was the first time they travelled to another country and meet peers with similar stories. It is all part of the rehabilitation process for persons with a disability who experience a traumatic event that causes them to have a disability. Participating in sport is the strongest vehicle to show the abilities of humanity and show that our expectations are not always accurate.

For this project to be successful there needed to be ongoing communication between the participating nations and the organizers as well as a clear understanding of expectations by all.

The Results

Two of athletes achieved a bronze medal (in athletics and power lifting). In total, 81 persons - coaches/trainers and directors/administrators - obtained support by means of expertise enhancement. In nine countries sport for persons with a disability was given a new impulse in a special way. Moreover, new cooperation networks developed, for example in eastern Africa as the East African Development Group and in the Netherlands between DIR, and RESPO DS-DI and between RESPO DS-DI and NebasNsg. During the public meeting of the EIP in Athens a director of IPC called the project an example for the future.

Conclusions

  • As a direct outcome of the Special Initiative 11 athletes from the participating nations have competed at the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games in powerlifting and athletics.
  • Created leadership among persons with a disability from less developed nations.
  • Great changes were seen in the participants including improved self-esteem, attitudes, understanding about the larger Paralympic movement and its impact on the lives of persons with a disability, affirmation that sport is the best tool for development.
  • Regional development and resource sharing within the participating East African nations: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda).

Timeframe

January 2004 -December 2004

The Special Initiative was a first step in creating a collaborative model for building sport for persons with a disability in developing nations and further their participation in the Paralympic Movement. A direct outcome of the project is a continuation project developed by the four participating East African nations to use sport to educate persons with a disability about HIV/AIDS and continue to do grassroots Paralympics development.

Implementing Organizations

Contact

Amy Farkas

Development Manager

International Paralympic Committee

+49 228 2097 104

amy.farkas@paralympic.org

Anecdotes:

  • At the first meeting IPC-folders with pictures of athletes with a disability were displayed. There was no answer of the participants to the question what struck them about the pictures. When they were told that there were only white athletes with a disability in the pictures, the African and Asian participants replied: 'That's the way it always is. What can we expect?'
  • A Pakistani participant said, in a reaction to the project presentation: 'I was expecting less, but it is more'.