Special talents out to show world what they can do
With fewer than 100 days to go until the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, athletes in Saudi Arabia are gearing up to take part in the world’s largest sports and humanitarian event as disability advocates within the Kingdom pledge to make the country more inclusive than ever.
With more than 7,500 athletes from 192 nations competing, the 2019 World Games — to be held in the MENA region for the first time — aims to set the benchmark for the most unified Games in the 50-year history of the Special Olympics.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event marking the official countdown to the international competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud, a celebrated philanthropist, told Arab News that Saudi Arabia’s strong commitment achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will mean the Kingdom will continue to focus on including people — regardless of ability — into society.
“The Agenda for Sustainable Development pledges to ‘leave no one behind’, but the fact is that by virtue of our heritage, the Middle East has always been an inclusive society,” she said. “The Special Olympics is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our athletes and to come together as a community.”
Sara Ahmed Felemban is eagerly awaiting her chance to shine at the World Games. The 17-year-old from Jeddah will be part of a 51-strong team of athletes from the Kingdom who will be landing in the UAE capital next March to show off their skills across a range of sports.
A student at Saudi Arabia’s Help Center, a non-profit organization committed to enhancing the quality of life of individuals with intellectual disabilities, Sara was born with Down Syndrome.
Sara will be competing in bowling at and said she feels honored to be representing the Kingdom on a world sporting stage.
“I am very proud and I am practicing every day,” she said. “I am happy and very excited.”
The teenager has dreams of clutching a gold medal on the podium.
“I hope. I hope. That would be great,” she added.
Her teammate Maan Al-Zaid, also born with Down Syndrome, is preparing himself for the basketball competition.
“First of all, I would love to participate in all sports. I am very proud to be Saudi. I think of all Saudis as champions. We are working very hard and we are working more and more to get positive results,” the 25-year-old from the AlJouf region said.
And Al-Zaid, pictured below with Sara, has not ruled out winning more than one medal.
“(I want) more than one. Definitely more than one!”
Dr. Heidi Alaskary, director of diversity and inclusion and partnerships at Saudi Arabia’s abia’s General Sports Authority, revealed ealed that the Kingdom has set up p a dedicated training camp in Saudi udi Arabia for the team and will be present in huge numbers in the he UAE to help the team do as well as possible.
“We are very, very ry excited about our participation next March,” she said. “We have a delegation across a number of different sports. It is a very di- verse group.
“The overall delegagation is very big too; not only are we sending ng athletes and coaches, es, we are sending a nummber of our volunteers rs to support the UAE. E. They include sending g volunteers such as s speech therapists to help support the health programs in the (country).”
Alaskary said that including those with disabilities in society has always been a key focus of decisionmakers within the Kingdom.
“It is very important to realize it has always been about the community, and in order for the community to shine we need to take care of all individuals; whether they are elderly, or young, whether they are able or a person with a disability, whether they are female and male — everyone is part of our community.
“Ten years ago, in 2008, we signed the UN ratification on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and we are constantly developing and modifying the programs to support those with disabilities in the country.
“I think you can expect to see a whole spectrum of more programs going forward.”
Alaskary said of about 20 million people living in Saudi Arabia, about 1.7 million have self-declared as having either a physical or intellectual disabil disability.
The Saudi A Arabia Special Olympic delegation visited Abu Dhabi yesterday as part of the World Games Uni Unified Summit to mark 100 days until the competition gets un underway.
Dur During the event, key find findings of the first ind depth study examining perceptions of people with intellectual disabilities across the MENA were revealed.
Among other revelations, it found that about two thirds (65 percent) of those living across the Middle East and North Africa said that th they were aware of go government initiatives ar around disability, but le less than half (46 per- cent) believed governments are highly supportive of those with disabilities.
The study, which quizzed people across eight countries — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco — also revealed that the vast majority of people in MENA believe that people with intellectual disabilities can perform in sport, however, they are more likely to believe that they can only play on a team with other players with intellectual disabilities. While almost eight out of 10 people (78 percent) across the region believe that people with intellectual disabilities can form friendships with people without intellectual disabilities, less than two-thirds (62 percent) believe that those with intellectual disabilities can understand news and events around them.
The full study will be revealed in March next year to coincide with the sporting spectacle.
At the event Reem Al-Hashemi, the UAE’s minister of state for International Cooperation, announced that 22 new countries have signed up for the upcoming World Games, taking the total number participating to its highest ever at 192.
Chaica Sultan Al-Qasimi, a member of the UAE’s SEDRA Legacy Project for the Games and a black belt in karate, said the event will welcome the world to the UAE and the Middle East, and “showcase the best in the human spirit.”
“As someone who loves sports and loves my home and country, I am deeply happy that the World Games will be hosted here in the UAE,” said Al-Qasimi, who has Down Syndrome and practices martial arts, kickboxing, Muay Thai and jiu-jitsu.
“Ever since I discovered I have Down Syndrome, I never saw myself as someone with a disability.
“I want to share the message with the world that ‘People of Determination’ can achieve anything they want to in life.”