Take action!
Boss of Special Olympics Europe/eurasia urges global figures to follow Alia’s ambassadorial example
DAVID Evangelista, president and managing director for Special Olympics Europe/ Eurasia, is challenging influential figures across the globe to join Jamaica’s outstanding swimmer Alia Atkinson in becoming ambassadors for the movement.
“Part of Alia’s role as champion ambassador is to help us expand the reach, scope and impact of Special Olympics across the world. But Alia can’t do it alone,” he said during a videoconference last Thursday.
“We need stakeholders across the world to not only hear the message, but also to take action, to receive the call to action,” added Evangelista, who oversees programme operations of countries in Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
On December 3 — recognised as International Day of Persons with Disabilities — Atkinson, who turns 32 tomorrow, was officially declared a Special Olympics champion ambassador for the Caribbean.
The Olympian and highly decorated swimmer is expected to help motivate athletes and boost awareness and champion the call for inclusion for people with disabilities.
Atkinson is set to work alongside Lorna Bell, director of the Special Olympics Caribbean Initiative.
“I am excited about this announcement and elated to see Alia, a woman from the Caribbean, joining forces with others around the world to ensure we create an inclusive world for all,” Bell told the Jamaica Observer.
Influential women to have impacted the movement include its late founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Special Olympics International (SOI) Chief Executive Officer Mary Davis and athlete Loretta Claiborne.
Kennedy Shriver, who died in 2009, believed that people with intellectual disabilities could accomplish more if given equal opportunities. She put that vision into action in 1962 by hosting a summer day camp in her backyard for young people with intellectual disabilities. Kennedy Shriver was the force behind the first Special Olympics Games in 1968 in the United States.
Davis, an experienced leader within the Special Olympics movement, has served as volunteer and coach. She currently leads an international team of over 250 professionals.
Claiborne, born with intellectual disabilities, is an accomplished athlete, motivational speaker, member of the SOI board of directors, and chief inspiration officer for Special Olympics.
“Now more than ever, we must work together and spread a message of love and unity.
Together, we achieve so much more and with voices like Alia championing the message of inclusion we are sure to reach more people and make a bigger impact in the Caribbean. We have to accept our shared responsibility of empowering our wider communities,” Bell, the former executive director of Special Olympics Jamaica, urged.
The aim of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
The movement gives them the opportunity to develop health and fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.