Hi, my name is Ben Haack, I’m an Athlete Leader from Australia, I have been a Special Olympics athlete for 21 years, and I sit on the board of Special Olympics International. Now that the facts are out of the way I want to drop some truth bombs, as they say.

People with intellectual disabilities (ID) are often plopped into one of two categories, “inspiring heroes” or “retards.” It stings to be patronized or called a name, but it also hurts because categories aren’t necessary. People with ID are simply people, and like anyone we want to be accepted for who we are. Inclusion is a fundamental need for any community, and to use the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, people with ID should be judged solely by “the content of their character.” For over 50 years Special Olympics has represented a valuable and essential need on the planet, which is to recognize the value in and grant respect to every single person no matter their ability. For this, sport is used as the vehicle, and in the disconnected world of today we need this more than ever. Look, Special Olympics International is not composed of big-ticket, world-class sports. We’re basically the “Moneyball” of sport: misfits who change the game.

The challenge of truly changing mindsets is tedious and slow-moving. Organisations that work on empowering people with disabilities are breaking some big rules, particularly in business. One of them is that you should stay on the beaten path of processes that have been shown to work and have value in the traditional way. Inclusion for people with disabilities is uncharted and does not show value in the same way. Research has shown that people with ID report that lack of skills created difficulties for them, which further reduced their confidence and motivation. People with ID experience chronically low levels of employment, averaging 18% in the US[1], reflecting the attitudes, behaviors and low expectations of people without disabilities. This world has so much nastiness, evil and destruction in it and it all comes from exclusion. So why not prevent it or be a part of preventing it?

The answer is simple, but hard. Making meaningful inclusion a key part of life is not just in regards to pledges, campaigns and social media posts. What I mean is people focusing on individual action. If someone is a teacher, engage and integrate a student with ID. Physicians, carve out space to care for people with ID, a historically neglected community, medically. Other specific examples include someone starting an inclusive sport program, volunteering regularly at Special Olympics or disability events, or hiring people with disabilities in their company. It’s these one-off efforts in local communities that add up to meaningful change. It’s walking the walk.

To me, the birthplace of all this is in school and people with ID not being meaningfully engaged with our cohort. People like me are in separate classrooms and facilities and being taught differently. We get bullied, suspended, forced to do home schooling, all to our academic and social detriment. What lesson does this teach fellow youth without ID? Is it any wonder we have so many challenges that then manifest into adult life on both sides? Is it any wonder

this sector then faces their entire lives being separate?

Fortunately, there are Unified Schools rolling out, which in a nutshell is a program where people with and without disabilities engage each other in all facets of school from sports to clubs to class. I see youth without ID refer to peers with ID as friends, treat them with respect, include them in conversation, and make efforts to understand their differences. In youth with ID, I see better social skills and engagement with other people, more confidence, less “problematic” behaviours, and a general readiness and ability to deal with the world around them. With the Unified Schools program there are conversations on inclusion, respect, decent language, and the nature of disability or difference. From there it builds up to a point where youth with and without disabilities become leaders, and these inclusive values and eradication of stereotypes carry over into adulthood. The key long-term challenge here is ensuring this new youth cohort will not only remember these lessons but act on them when they get to the business/corporate side of life. That is the end game and crux of the issue.

Right now, if a woman gives birth to or is raising someone with a disability, what sort of resources and opportunities will they have? Sadly, there is no certainty. Basically, for me right now, I would rather that someone like me isn’t born than experience what is far more likely to happen otherwise: systemic neglect. That certainly does not mean that I don’t want people like me to be born, I just want this poor treatment, setting and environment to go. I want people to see me as “one of them,” not me as an ambassador, and to value and respect people with disabilities and understand their challenges. I want people to also see me and the whole journey that I have had, both the beginning and where I am now. I want differences to no longer be seen in a scary or nasty way and a world that’s less driven by ego, money and power. Things have to change.

I’m over being “a hero” and being on a poster. I don’t mind being an inspiration to people, but without the opportunity to manifest and act on it, what does that mean? In other words, without programs in health, education, sport, and professions this does not happen. I’m tireless because I am living this. Like anyone, especially someone in a marginalised community like me, I believe respect and dignity are basic human rights as we all move through the world in our different circumstances and realities. Biases surrounding race, gender, sexual orientation and, yes, intellectual disability are rampant. I hope you’ll be a part of not only the conversation, but the action of change. I invite you to walk the walk with me.

[1] Fewer U.S. persons with a disability were employed in 2020 with a total employment rate of 17.9%, down from 19.3% in 2019, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

I’m Over Being “A Hero” by Ben Haack was originally published in The Playbook on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

When it comes to Special Olympics, there are two kinds of champions: those who are competing on the field or in the gym, and those who are rallying behind athletes, fighting for their rights and the dignity that is every person’s birthright. I am lucky enough to have been both kinds of champion.

My name is Tina Jia, and I’m from Beijing. My story begins like so many others belonging to people with intellectual disabilities (ID). In what I call “the old days,” there was a lot of confusion, sadness and isolation in my childhood. Not only did my peers bully me for being different, but my teachers actively ignored the situation. I soon dropped out and stayed at home, falling behind in my education due to in-classroom cruelty and lack of acceptance. After a year, I returned to a school that included people with ID and was blessed to find out about Special Olympics from my new, kind teacher who cared about my success. It was then I became the first kind of champion, the one on the playing field.

I started training in 1999 in swimming, gymnastics, basketball and more. I couldn’t get enough of sports! I worked hard in practice and was thrilled to travel across the world with my coach to compete in the 10th Special Olympics World Summer Games in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I focused on my gymnastics and took bronze in vault and was shocked when I won gold in balance beam. Comparing myself to other athletes, I thought my balance had been the worst. I suppose that’s a lesson for all of us; self-doubt is often incorrect. I made my coach, my family and, most importantly, myself proud at World Games.

My life changed again when I was selected to be a Sargent Shriver International Global Messenger in the 2000–2002 class. The opportunity to inspire others with my story and educate people on the significance of inclusion all over the world made me a jetsetter on a mission. I met four presidents, two American, two Chinese: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Jiang Zeming and Hu Jintao. As I shook their hands I was nervous but excited to talk with each of them and take pictures. My favorite conversation was with President Hu Jintao, whom I met while with Special Olympics International Chairman Dr. Timothy Shriver. President Hu Jintao asked me about my wishes and dreams, and my answer came easy. I dreamed of more people with ID having access to and participating in Special Olympics. I was elated and hopeful when he responded, “Your dream will come true.” I believe President Hu Jintao took my words to heart, because soon I began to see changes all around me. When I was on a flight with fellow colleagues with ID, a man without ID couldn’t help but overhear our conversations about the conference we’d just attended. I cannot speak for my colleagues, but I’m used to being stared or even pointed at by strangers, so I was delighted when the man joined in on our conversation, exhibiting respect and sincere interest in our work. We even looked at pictures of the conference together. This goes to show that when people with ID are given the chance, we can propel meaningful change in society.

I had officially morphed into the second kind of champion. When I wasn’t traveling to spread the word of inclusion for people with ID, I was working at the Disabled Persons’ Federation in China making Chinese knot handicrafts. I worked alongside people with physical disabilities, making friends and developing a further understanding of the power of inclusion for people with all kinds of disabilities. In that job, we all helped each other, and no one ever looked down on someone else. It was a true model of an ideal workplace in terms of respect and inclusion.

After working at China’s Disabled Persons’ Federation, I became employed at Special Olympics East Asia (SOEA), thrilled to return to my old stomping grounds and continue my mission to champion athletes on the field and those who’ve not yet made it there. There are so many people with ID in China, in the whole world, really, and I hope they can all find Special Olympics to play together and build confidence and rich relationships. At SOEA I was given meaningful roles, taught new skills, and was able to work independently without microaggressions like only being given menial tasks or even simply being told to “sit down.” Returning to SOEA felt like home.

Like staff and volunteers put on World Games and cheered me on in North Carolina in 1999, I was able to return the favor twenty years later when I went to World Games Abu Dhabi 2019. At that point I’d officially been both an athlete and an employee at World Games. I’d stopped participating in Special Olympics sports ten years prior, and it felt good to give back on such a huge scale in the United Arab Emirates. My circle of participation was complete! When it comes to Special Olympics, both the fun and work are never done.

Like it has for so many, Covid-19 has changed most everything in terms of the way I work. While I haven’t physically returned to the office, I’m able to continue my championing work from home by attending meetings and consulting on the strategic plan via Zoom calls and emails. While I miss seeing my colleagues in person, we still get to connect in other ways. Even though the mode of communication has changed, my voice and feedback are still heard and valued. One of the biggest events during the pandemic for me was attending the SOEA Regional Athlete Input Council virtual meetings. We all heard each other out with enthusiasm and collaborated our thoughts. The call was productive, lively and of course fun! It’s always a celebratory time when progress is made for people with ID.

While I may have retired my official Special Olympics athlete champion role, I am still going strong as a champion and a Unified Leadership role model for Special Olympics and all people with ID, and I don’t have plans to stop anytime soon. One of the best things about Unified Leadership training is that it includes people both with and without ID, especially those in corporate settings where big, influential hiring decisions are being made. Societal change at work is a two-way street, and together we’re working to meaningfully include people with ID from both ends.

My husband and I live with our beloved pets in a beautiful house. I have a life that’s been richly blessed and have come a long way since “the old days.” I know now that having ID is just one factor about me, like having brown hair or being a person who enjoys gymnastics. I’m not defined by any one thing, and I hope other people will realize that too. I don’t want to be treated differently, I want to be treated the same as anyone else, and I believe that’s a possibility. I look forward to continuing to champion, working to spread news of the Special Olympics movement for the purpose of inclusion, joy and building confidence for all people with ID. The future is bright.

I wonder. Which kind of champion are you?

Two Kinds of Champions by Tina Jia was originally published in The Playbook on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The following post was written by Carlos and Maria, Special Olympics Youth Leaders from Venezuela. Carlos and Maria make it their mission to strengthen inclusion within their community. Check out how they #innovateforinclusion!

We came up with our Innovation project because we wanted to improve leadership in Special Olympics Venezuela and provide athletes with the opportunity to explore leadership strategies.

During our project there were some challenges like: networking fails and a coordinator shift, but we decided that we wouldn’t give up. We were able to find a new coordinator and accomplish our goals.

The athletes learned so much more about Special Olympics and showed up to the meetings with huge smiles on their faces, excited to know what we were going to do this time. However, our proudest moment came when we were discussing their personal goals. The athletes showed that they have great ambitions and drive which will lead to a great future because of Special Olympics.

We are extremely grateful for these opportunities that Special Olympics grants to us young people to promote inclusion and leadership of people with intellectual disabilities. This experience is truly a unique and impressive experience and we thank Special Olympics for that.

The Special Olympics Youth Innovation Grant initiative is supported through partnerships with SNF, Hasbro Inc., the Office of Special Education Programs at the United States Department of Education, Samuel Family Foundation, Lions Club International Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, PMIEF, and Kantar. Learn more about these inspiring projects at SpecialOlympicsGlobalYouthProjects.org.

Connecting Leaders of Tomorrow was originally published in The Playbook on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In celebration of World Sight Day 2020, my colleagues asked me to write about my experience of being visually impaired. I hope you can learn how to walk in my shoes.

When COVD-19 started in March, like many other organizations, Special Olympics HQ made the decision to conduct business from home. I was concerned about my workload because much of what I do during the day requires working in the office. For example, I sort and deliver the mail, I conduct office tours. I deliver packages. I had to get creative and take my work virtually.

In 2017 I started doing meetings in person called Welcome to my World. The meetings allowed my coworkers to step into my shoes for short period of time. I wanted everyone in the organization to know what it is like to be visually impaired and also learn how to work better together. Once I started the virtual Welcome to my World presentations the staff at Special Olympics truly got a firsthand experience into my technology. One of my favorite things to ask them them to do is to put on a blindfold and try to send a text message! The takeaway from these presentations is that people felt more comfortable asking me questions about how we can work better together. Now people understand how to send me information so I can read it and even asked me to help them with some of their projects. I heard from some staff that they have learned to slow down and be more patient.

During the time I have been working remotely, I have also learned to use Zoom. It has been a great system that allows me to connect virtually with everyone. Like many people all over the world that have had to adapt to working remotely, I had to overcome additional challenges and learn new technology and adapt to this new way of life. On World Sight Day 2020 I feel like many people all over the world should consider people that are visually impaired in everything they do — when you are meeting virtually, please try to share your presentation before the meeting so that the person can review it ahead of the meeting. If you are unable to do that, please take the time to describe what is on the screen. When you send documents please be sure they are accessible to everyone. It is no fun not being included or having to sit on the sidelines during meetings because I can’t see the screen. A little bit of empathy goes a long way, and we can all use a little bit of that these days.

Welcome to My World — Virtually! was originally published in The Playbook on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

All around Africa Region, Special Olympics athletes and partners are spreading messages of hope and inspiration.

In support, we witnessed clinical directors sharing COVID-19 health information to families in Special Olympics Mauritius, Youth Leaders sharing messages of support for inclusion on their social media in Special Olympics Zimbabwe, and Programs working with governments to include people with intellectual disabilities in their urgent delivery of food parcels in Special Olympics Guinea-Bissau, Special Olympics South Africa and Special Olympics Zambia. Read more here on some of these diverse efforts.

• Special Olympics Botswana
• Special Olympics Congo
• Special Olympics Guinea Bissau
• Special Olympics Kenya
• Special Olympics Niger
• Special Olympics Senegal
• Special Olympics South Africa
• Special Olympics Zambia

Special Olympics Botswana

A partnership with UNFPA created a special series of interviews in Botswana — looking at intellectual disability rights issues, inclusion and COVID-19 prevention methods on Yarona FM — a youth radio station.

Special Olympics Congo

In the nation of Congo-Brazzaville, the President Denis Sassou Nguesso instructed the government to help vulnerable people and those with disabilities during the lockdown period during the pandemic. On May 9, 2020 the Ministry of Social Affairs and Humanitarian Action handed over food assistance packages for distribution to the athletes of Special Olympics Congo. These food aid packages included rice, tomatoes, sardines, tinned and beef and vegetable oil.

Special Olympics Senegal

More than 500 masks and COVID-19 information leaflets were donated to Special Olympics Senegal athletes through a partnership with SOS, Speak Up Africa and fashion house Tongoro in the battle against COVID-19. This continues their health partnership in prevention against malaria and vaccination awareness.

Special Olympics Senegal to deliver face masks to athletes in partnership with Speak Up Africa and Tongoro - StaySafe

Special Olympics South Africa

Special Olympics Zambia

Special Olympics Zambia has an initiative to reach 2,500 athletes from low income households in Ngombe and Madevu districts with Sport in Action and the University of East London. Read the full article below.

Caring in the COVID-19 crisis with Special Olympics Zambia

They also received a beautiful tribute from musical artist Roberto.

Caring during COVID-19 in Africa Region was originally published in The Playbook on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Nothing has exposed the fragility of the current global system more than the current COVID crisis. It is in many ways an unprecedented frame rupture.

While the world’s population sits anxiously for a vaccine or treatment, the global community must protect itself from witnessing a catastrophic casualty: the casualty of international cooperation.

Fear, self- protection, social (and often emotional) isolation, and a growing distrust among nations and international institutions has become the new narrative. The globe has witnessed the indiscriminate effect that the coronavirus has had on all economies, systems and structures. The response has lacked uniformity. What appears to be simple protections like facemasks and public health measures have become partisan fault lines at a time when citizens of the world are looking for solidarity, and any degree of certainty.

Since the end of WWII, international cooperation has been perhaps the single ingredient that has provided billions of the world’s citizens with opportunity, visibility, and information. While imperfect, the creation of the United Nations provided a global platform for open dialogue (and dissent) that has saved countless lives, enriched countless more, and has brought about far more good than bad. The advent of bilateral and multilateral trade deals has helped job creation, wealth generation, and a connectivity among nations. Key regional market and geopolitical groups like Mercosur, ASEAN, and most notably the European Union (and its common currency) all speak to the way in which international cooperation breeds multilateral relations, and a future vision. This is not to detract from the clear gaps that globalization and international cooperation has shown, at times eroding social protection measures nationally, and often creating undesired industry impacts to grow global economies. With this said, one must look only to the significant advancements made under the UN-MDGs and continuing under the UN-SDGs to demonstrate the way in which international cooperation is the adhesive to improving- and often saving- lives at scale.

Former President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, warned of this fracture in a European Policy Center piece- titled “COVID19- A Turning Point for the EU?”, published at the very outset of the COVID crisis. He speaks to the way in which growing distrust among nations will potentially deepen the crisis. The casualty of international cooperation will plunge any economy and nation dependent upon connectivity into an abyss of uncertainty and greater isolation at a time when only collective solutions can see the world through.

Some of the world’s most marginalized populations serve as a guide. It has been through cooperation among nations that gender equity has taken center stage in global economic development. It has been through international investments that child mortality has significantly reduced- and the same applies to food security, support to migrants and refugees, education and more. Key areas of global health like universal access to care, whose urgency has exponentially grown with COVID’s devastating reach, will depend in large part on the ability for nations to collaborate, sharing learnings, create hybrid models, and most importantly, show collective resolve in their commitment to make health care accessible to all. Perhaps no other population can speak to the positive impact that international cooperation has had on their lives and their future more than individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Imagine a world where institutions, human warehouses of traumatic proportion, expand globally to strip individuals of their integrity, dignity and self — respect. Imagine a world where children born with an intellectual disability remain simply an economic and social burden, without any consideration to their uniqueness. Imagine a world where families do not have the choice to respect and nurture the lives of their children of all abilities, without risking the survival of the entire family unit.

Can the world, its economy and social fabric afford to see those most marginalized plunge into oblivion? Can the global and national security apparatus withstand the deep civil unrest that could take hold should the adhesive that binds nations together weaken to the point of collapse? Can the global community afford a deepening global health crisis without ensuring health access to all, especially those on the margins of their communities? Perhaps it is only through international cooperation that something as urgent as universal access to care can be made a reality.

All political and industry leaders will recognize sooner than later that the connectivity that has brought about such massive advancements to global peace, security and development is due in large part to the commitment of nations to work together, despite their differences. The survival of international cooperation may well represent the world’s survival through turbulent waters not seen in generations.

As COVID impacts and responses differ among nations, might international cooperation be COVID’s principal casualty? The cracks in the frame continue to expand, and the results of such a demise could spell drastically greater damage to a world already on the brink.

International Cooperation: The Principal COVID Casualty? was originally published in The Playbook on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I work in the social media space, a place where every word, down to the character, impacts what your message is. This year, I had a particularly tough time messaging my organization’s posts for Mother’s Day. I kept getting hung up on the term “mother”. For many, that’s a pretty straightforward character in your life. But, for many others, it might be different or complicated. In families across the world, “the mother role” might have been played by a different figure, such as an aunt or grandmother, or even a different person all together, such as a father taking on an extra role, or no one at all. My own mother, who would fall into the straightforward column for me, has had a completely different experience of her own, having lost her mother at a young age and growing a complicated relationship with the holiday herself through the years.

In preparation for Father’s Day, I wanted to take a second to really think about the holiday and what it means to have an observance day for someone. I really couldn’t move on from the idea of the non-traditional in an overly commercialized space, such as Father’s Day — the living embodiment of the shirt and tie emoji.

As a storyteller, I have read countless blogs. Many ideas, characters, and outcomes have stayed with me, but not very many lines. When thinking about this Father’s Day, I can’t help but think of this: “Novie says having Chris as her Unified Partner is like having a father you can go to for advice. And Chris says it is great to have a bond with someone who will respect you for who you are.”

Anovia Craven and Christopher Bence are both two of my friends and colleagues, who I talk to regularly, both officially about work, or just catch up with as friends multiple times a week. I met Novie through Chris. He would bring his Unified Partner, Novie, to our office for visits. The two met almost 10 years ago through Special Olympics DC, where Novie is a traditional athlete, and Chris is a Unified Partner, or a Special Olympics athlete who does not have an intellectual disability.

Their relationship might have started on the field, but it has transcended into much, much more. When Chris is with Novie, he is constantly pushing her to be the best version of herself. Whether it is holding her accountable to aspects of her work, visiting her for social distance workouts, helping her eat healthy and better understand nutrition, or being a pillar of her support system after her mother suffered a traumatic accident earlier this year.

However, Chris can’t help Novie succeed without getting in there himself. Much like a classic image of a father reading through his child’s math book to help them learn equations, Chris works on ways he can create a better experience for Novie. For a weekly update meeting, Chris created a specialized template for Novie to use when she presents her information. Additionally, he pushes her to speak up, sit up, and present as if it is a more professional setting than a run-of-the-mill catch-up meeting. And you know, the few times he caught some lines copied and pasted from an Internet article on the topics we were discussing, they were called out and Novie was asked to dig deeper. Every week, I can see an improvement in her work and I have no doubt that there is a combination of pride, joy, and shared achievement when a new milestone is reached, the same feelings which exchange between “father” and “daughter” at the sight of an accomplishment in some area of life.

Chris is a runner. Last year, he actually ran a marathon and then hopped on a 14 hour flight for our Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi. He needed that race to qualify for the 2020 Boston Marathon, which he had planned to run in order to pace his mother, also a runner, who would be competing in the 70+ age bracket. Also in 2019, Chris encouraged Novie to run her first race, a local 5k in Washington, D.C. Together, they picked out a race to register for, worked on a training timeline, and encouraged others to join them. While I sat the race out, I was bombarded by messages and photos throughout. The full-toothed grin on Novie’s face signified more than happiness. It was accomplishment in completing something she never thought she would, but with the right person in her corner, it became possible. After all, running is what Chris’s mom does, what Chris does, and now what Novie does.

Novie keeps Chris grounded in a way few others do for each other. She is a question master as well as a sounding board. She makes sure she knows what is going on in his life, and if he shows up to a Zoom call with some questionable quarantine facial hair, she will certainly ask about it. She is the receiver of souvenirs from his travel and clearly ever-present in the thoughts he has, looking for something which will put a smile on her face, no matter how far away he is.

Novie was raised by a strong, tough, independent woman, who adopted her when she first met her as a baby. Chris isn’t Novie’s father, but through his interactions and the strength of their relationship, he has begun to add extra support to her life, much like a traditional father might. He is indeed a father figure, although he might prefer it if I said “older brother figure” or even mentor. Like others around the world, Chris has become a mainstay in the life of someone else, filling a role traditionally reserved for a leading man and helping to reinforce the reimaging of traditional spaces with nontraditional characters.

During these difficult times, it is important to recognize the importance of friendship and the voids we can fill in other peoples’ lives, simply by being present — Not necessarily physically, but emotionally, reassuring a level of support, adding structure during a time of unknowns.

Novie says, “The world and people like me need people like Chris in their lives, and the friendship we have should be in everyone’s lives.”

Beyond Just Friendship: Meet Chris & Novie was originally published in The Playbook on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My name is Catalina Mildenberger and my partner is Francisco Kalhawy, together we assumed the responsibility of developing actions in favor of the inclusion of young people with and without disabilities. The experience of being able to be part of this Project is unforgettable. We are very grateful for the opportunity and trust, it helped us a lot to open our minds, and it encouraged us to continue looking for change, to continue fighting for a real inclusive society. The truth is that until a couple of years ago I was completely ignorant of the Unified Generation and of Unified Sports. Today I can say that the Unified Generation is youth being revolutionary and working together for inclusion. The Unified Generation that today is made up of young people is the reflection of tomorrow’s society and that is what excites us, to see how much we have progressed as a society, but always being aware that there is something more to improve. Although at times we have been a little frustrated by the bureaucratic inconveniences that we had to face to develop the activities in the schools, that also made us think about how much there is to be done in favor of inclusion, and in the contradiction in that, precisely in the spaces that are supposed to be inclusive, in reality, they not always are. That gives us the guideline that in reality the change we need is something much deeper than simply obeying a law that obliges to include students with disabilities in schools, but the real change is to decide that inclusion is a reality, a deep adjustment, a learning for all the involved. That change needs a real awareness that diversity exists, and that we must build a fairer society that harbors that diversity. We are convinced that, at this point, through Special Olympics we can make a difference that sport is inclusive tool for excellence, and that is the path we want to follow. We know that through Unified Sports we can change the perception that young people have about disability and achieve that true inclusion we seek. That will be our mission!

This phrase I think sums up that spirit, the true transformation to which we must aspire: “To include is not to make a place, it is to welcome”.

This is the work that we must assume from now on. Both Francisco and I commit ourselves to do our best, to work for the objective and to add more young people to this Unified Generation. To all the young people who want to be part of this generation, I say “strength”, because many times we will meet people closed to change that frustrate us, because they are going to call us idealists, utopians, but only we know the power that we have inside and we don’t have to let anything or anyone take it away from us, let’s keep dreaming and working as a team, as we do in sports. May the Unified Sport be a reflection of life!

Here are videos from the sack, relay, and three-legged races at Catalina and Francisco’s Unified Field Day.

The 2018–2019 Special Olympics Youth Innovation Grant initiative is supported through partnerships with Hasbro, Inc., The Samuel Family Foundation, the Office of Special Education Programs at the United States Department of Education, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Kantar Group, the Microsoft Corporation, Lane Global Youth Leadership, and the Lions Clubs International Foundation. Learn more about these inspiring projects at SpecialOlympicsGlobalYouthProjects.org.

Innovators of the Week: Catalina and Francisco was originally published in The Playbook on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The chain around Malaki’s ankle spoke volumes, yet it told only half of the story. The protective gear worn by Gerald was impressive, but not nearly as impressive as his journey. Two young men with two very different accounts of what it is like to be a refugee in today’s fractured world — a world so often riven by fear and discord.

As a young boy, Malaki spent years living in the UNHCR’s Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania. Born with an intellectual disability, Malaki faced seemingly insurmountable odds in gaining access to the types of things that all youth yearn for: acceptance, belonging, opportunity. As part of a desperate move to ensure their son was safe and protected, Malaki’s family was left with few options, beyond restraining him in an effort to limit his vulnerability. This decision was a desperate form of social protection. Malaki lived restrained by a chain in a world relegating so many individuals like him to a lifetime of social isolation, confusion, and increased risk. His chain was a physical symbol of his exclusion from a world that simply did not know how to welcome him. In a way, his story symbolizes how society so often reacts with inaction to the plight of refugees fleeing the hell of war, poverty and conflict.

It is altogether remarkable when one considers that, after less than two years after Special Olympics found Malaki- and subsequently working with the family and camp to physically liberate him- this young man was to lead the procession of some 7,000 Special Olympics athletes during the 2019 Special Olympics World Games Opening Ceremonies in Abu Dhabi. In ways big and small, it was the introduction of the simple game of football to red dust fields of the Nyarugusu refugee camp that served as the key element to Malaki’s rise to prominence in the Special Olympics movement.

Thousands of kilometers north of Tanzania, in the industrial city of Turin, Italy, Gerald — a young man also forced to migrate from his homeland in northern Cameroon — has another story of transformation to tell. Gerald, who is today a member of the Italian Red Cross team, joined his colleagues during the height of the COVID crisis to provide psycho-social support, translation services, and capacity for refugees recently rescued in the Mediterranean. As he translated, organized and assembled as part of the operation, few could appreciate how deep an understanding Gerald had for their plight. Indeed, their plight was, and in many ways still is, something he holds in his heart.

Gerald arrived in Lampedusa like so many migrants and refugees, and found his way to legal residency in Italy. The incessant challenges he faced were, in his words, “almost impossible given how I arrived, and where I came from.” Chief among those challenges was the lack of opportunities to meaningfully integrate into the community. Getting involved with Special Olympics Turin — and playing on a Unified football team alongside athletes with intellectual disabilities — was a turning point for Gerald.

“I will forever be grateful to the athletes of Special Olympics Italia athletes,” Gerald later commented in an address at the UNHCR Headquarter office in Geneva. “They welcomed me. They understood me. They offered their hands of friendship to me when I needed it most- and it continues to serve as a defining moment in my life.”

Considering the horror and hardship faced by refugees every day around the world, it is difficult to imagine that something as seemingly simple as sport could help transform their plight. Sport — at its very best — is inherently and instinctively inclusive, and the Special Olympics movement is showing the profound impact that it can have on the lives of refugees, empowering so many to move from the margins to the center.

As the world gathers to celebrate World Refugee Day, Malaki and Gerald — both bold young leaders in the Special Olympics movement — offer two strong examples of migrant youth who have seen their lives transformed by the power of grass-roots sport. Their respective journeys also highlight the deepening plight facing so many migrant youth worldwide, at a time when the COVID crisis only serves to exacerbate what was already heightened vulnerability and social isolation.

As the world reflects upon the plight facing refugee youth of all abilities, it becomes clear that national governments, policy makers, and communities need to redefine the role that grass-roots sports can play as part of the solution. Moreover, in a post COVID global setting, and in the context of the recent anti-racism protests where the deep vulnerability of marginalized populations has been exposed, their voices must be allowed to migrate to the center of the global dialogue.

That is exactly what Special Olympics has been working to achieve in recent years. Under the Unified with Refugees platform, Special Olympics is implementing inclusive programming in dozens of nations around the world. From Cyprus to Thailand and from Kenya to Belgium, Special Olympics is working with cross-sector partners to ensure that refugees and migrants, namely youth, can benefit from one of the strongest development-through-sport models. Through early childhood development activities, family health seminars, inclusive sports and coaches training, Unified with Refugees is actively empowering youth of all abilities to achieve their best on and off the field of play.

The Special Olympics movement understands the ways in which simple play can break down the walls of exclusion and intolerance and replace them with collaboration, mutual understanding, and dignity. As a movement, it also understands that supporting migration to the center — through initiatives like Unified with Refugees — is what brought Malaki from a restrained existence to the global sports stage. It understands that through empowerment, Gerald migrated from a beneficiary to an agent of service and social change.

Malaki and Gerald are helping tell the whole story. The world stands to gain so much by listening. And today, as a global movement, we are proud to stand with refugees.

Migration to the Center — We stand with Refugees was originally published in The Playbook on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As most of Europe clears a month of home confinement and quarantine, communities across the region are beginning to feel the ramifications that this ‘new normal’ inflicts on one’s physical and mental health. Sustained social distancing, teleworking and the onslaught of new professional and domestic challenges have brought with it a new normal of inactivity that has no clear end in sight. As the European Union mitigates the impact that home confinement will have on the health of citizens across the region, fast action will be required to produce impact across the region. Yet the European Union need not look outside of its borders for a range of creative and visionary solutions.

Slovak national Eva Gazova is one such visionary. When COVID-19 forced her home city of Bratislava, and the whole of the Republic of Slovakia to head home, Eva knew that she needed to act. As Chief Executive Officer of Special Olympics Slovakia, she had to execute an organizational pivot to ensure that some 4,500 athletes with intellectual disabilities across the country had the ability to stay fit, stay active, all while complying with the strict mobility regulations across the nation. Without question, this pandemic has the potential to have a disproportionate impact on populations in vulnerable situations. Gazova’s response was swift.

“Our practices and competitions are postponed. Sports clubs and facilities are closed. Many across the country may not believe it- but our athletes take their sports participation and dedication as seriously as any Olympic athlete,” said Gazova. . A former competitive swimmer herself, Eva knew that individuals with intellectual disabilities were at a heightened risk not only of contracting COVID-19, but of other risks as well: depression and increased social isolation. “For so many individuals with intellectual disabilities, sport is the adhesive to a life lived fully- friendships, physical activity, achieving goals, and having fun. Quarantine has made sport something that our athletes need to reinvent- and they are.”

Through support from Slovakia’s Ministry of Education, Research, Science and Sport and local sports company Demisport-Trnava, Special Olympics Slovakia has created the nationwide Make Your Fitness at Home campaign. Athletes with intellectual disabilities, together with their coaches and families, can go online and choose the sports equipment that they need to stay fit at home. The equipment and fitness supplies are delivered to the athletes’ doorstep. To date, over 1,000 individuals with intellectual disabilities have received high quality sports fitness equipment across Slovakia, making it one of the first national Special Olympics organizations in Europe to create such a national platform.

“Our athletes fight for acceptance every day of their lives,” continued Eva. “Part of that fight is showing their communities their talents, their drive to stay fit in the face of this paralysis.”

The Make Your Fitness at Home initiative also brings to life a key initiative and focus of the European Union- and one that has gained considerable attention over the past number of years: the annual European Week of Sport. “We in Slovakia have activated our network for the annual European Week of Sport and have seen higher and higher levels of participation with every passing year. The Make Your Fitness at Home campaign uses this same enthusiasm and takes it from the sports club to the living room,” Gazova says. “For a population that is often misunderstood, especially in times of crisis, the athletes of Special Olympics Slovakia are proving their strong ability to adapt every day to a very challenging environment.”

Gazova’s vision does not stop with at-home fitness. She also sees a unique opportunity to use COVID-19 to bring about a stronger, more inclusive Slovakia, and by natural extension European Union. With tens of thousands of family members, coaches, volunteers, supporters, and sponsors by her side, Gazova and the athletes of Special Olympics Slovakia are launching an Inclusion Declaration, both to highlight the urgency of inclusion at this time of crisis, but also to amplify the voice of those so often unheard. “This declaration is a statement from our athletes to the nation, and indeed to Europe. When we are able to return to the pitch, and to the sports club, will the doors be open to our athletes? If we take any lesson from COVID-19, it should be that health and fitness need to be accessible to all and that also means to individuals with intellectual disabilities.”

Special Olympics, which offers sport and competition opportunities to athletes with intellectual disabilities, mirrors the scope of the European Union with national programmes operating in all 27 member states. Many major Special Olympics events have benefited from EU funding including the Special Olympics European Games in Antwerp, Belgium in 2014 and the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria in 2017. As Europe looks to an unknown future, Gazova’s vision for perhaps the region’s most marginalized population offers a chance to recommit to a theme that has become more urgent now than ever: widening the circle to include everyone. Until then, her restlessness, and that of the athletes of Special Olympics, remains.

COVID-19, A NEW FRONTIER: WHY EUROPE MUST LOOK WITHIN FOR A WAY FORWARD was originally published in The Playbook on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.