By doing this, Special Olympics Africa The region collaborated with Little Eden Society (Little Eden) to expand sports opportunities for 300 people with intellectual disabilities in South Africa.
Little Eden, familiar with inclusion, is a permanent stay in Johannesburg, South Africa that offers accommodation, food, education, clothing and resources to 300 people with intellectual disabilities. With residents from 4 to 69 years old, the program is split into two houses in the local environment, each of which catering for a different learning range.
Earlier this year, Special Olympics Africa (SOA) staff attended the Special Olympics Africa Regional Conference, where they have followed education and training about the practices currently used by Special Olympics’ Global Motor activity training program (Matp) and visited Little Eden to do a practical learning session with their residents.
Matp is a special Olympic movement -based sports program for athletes with in -depth intellectual handicaps that have high support needs. The program is aimed at achieving personal records and offers athletes the opportunity to practice skills that prepare them for sport without comparison with others.
Just like Matp, Little Eden is very focused on their “stimulation program”, which is their method to involve residents in physical and intellectual learning opportunities, stimulating their bodies and spirits.
Little Eden Society’s Care Center Manager, Elvira Rohrbeck, shared: “Stimulation is important because it is not only fun for our residents, but they work on their physical fitness and sports skills that are instrumental for their overall growth.”
In the identification of the similarities in MATP and their own stimulation program, Little Eden saw insight into MATP sessions learn how they consist of skills stations where athletes participate in sports -related activities that develop their mobility, agility, striking, kicking and balance.
Rohrbeck continued: “Programs like Matp have an important role in helping our residents to develop themselves, their team spirit, their sports and physical skills and learning skills.
“Our employees are trained in Matp education, so that they can be suitable for new training and techniques, to learn new things from Special Olympics that they can now transfer and use at Little Eden.”
Adaptive sports activities through training sessions as part of the MATP of Special Olympics and the stimulation program of Little Eden, reduces the access barriers for sport, making it possible to participate at every level. These lower barriers equalize the playing field, which makes athletes feel empowered and capable at every level of competition.
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that does little else.”
Nelson Mandela
Sport enables people to be part of something bigger than themselves, while building a more inclusive, accepting world where everyone can be celebrated and increased because he is himself – a historically important endeavor in South Africa.
The country is no stranger in the struggle to create a more inclusive world. Nelson Mandela spent his life promoting equality, freedom and democracy for everyone and this is still something that is being fought today.
Mandela openly fought against the apartheid system, the apartheid translated into ‘separation’ in Afrikaans, put in place to achieve black and other non-white populations in South Africa and to reject that lasted 46 years. During this time, people with disabilities, especially those from the black community, were also confronted with extreme marginalization and discrimination.
Although the apartheid rule ended in 1994 with the election of Mandela as President of South Africa, the country is still confronted with the consequences of those laws to this day. Those then marginalized communities still had to fight for their place in the world – seen and treated as equals, to be respected and to have the same rights as someone else.
In his footsteps, following and his legacy of Inclusion continuing, Special Olympics and many other people and organizations lead the inclusive movement that Nelson Mandela has worked on so much of his life.
Each leader builds in a different way to this goal, in different ways, but all with the only purpose of an inclusive world for everything that everyone is equal and appreciated because he is himself.
Today, on Mandela Day, special Olympics Nelson Mandela and his courage to fight for and build a more inclusive world for everyone.
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