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Valiantsina Shutko is a woman with a mission. Once a special education teacher, she is now the deputy mayor of Borisov in Belarus. In 2004 she took on the task of coach of the Belarusian team at the Special Olympics European 7-a-side Football Tournament held in May of that year in Ettelbruck, Luxembourg. Shutko does not get bogged down in politics when it comes to knowing what is good for the citizens of Borisov. She knows from first-hand experience that Special Olympics is a great way to teach people in her community about compassion and to make them better citizens. "There is room for everyone in our city," she said with pride.
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Aliaksandr Koshel, 20 (left), and his brother Dzimitri, 16, seem to be good friends on the pitch. "I tell him what to do and he listens to me," said Aliaksandr. |
Concerned about the exclusion of children with intellectual disabilities, the city, headed by Mayor Vasilii Burgun, established individual special classes within mainstream schools, highly unusual in a country where the majority of people with disabilities live isolated in institutions. All of the players on the team attend the special classes; Aliaksandr Koshel, 20, graduated and now works in the market; his brother Dzimitri, 16, is still enrolled. "They live at home with their parents and thrived in the special program," Shutko said.
Then, last year, the city organized a high-profile football tournament as part of the 2004 Special Olympics European Football Week that involved everyone in the community — from municipal workers to the professional football team, BATE.
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Valiantsina Shutko (standing, center) with the Special Olympics Belarus team and coaches. |
"The tournament was so successful and left such a big impression that we now want to start Unified Sports®, tennis and basketball," she said. In 2004 there were 270 Special Olympics athletes in the local Program but Shutko estimated that there is a potential for 2,000 more athletes.
What touches Shutko most about the efforts of her beloved city is the impact on families. "I can tell you 10 stories about how parents had all but given up hope until they got their children involved in Special Olympics," she paused and then added with quiet dignity, "I am very proud of my city." And so she should be.
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