The Power of One: It all started with one athlete who wanted to belong
by Miguel Moran and Toribio Solis; this profile originally appeared in Spirit magazine
It’s not easy being a person with intellectual disabilities in El Salvador, but it’s getting better. Just ask Special Olympics athlete Monica Rivas, 22.
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Monica Rivas on the rhythmic gymnastics floor. Rivas serves as her country's SO Get Into It Director. [Photos courtesy of Special Olympics El Salvador] |
When Rivas was 5, her parents had difficulty finding a school for her; she was shy, used sign language to communicate and struggled to learn. By the time she was 9, Rivas joined Special Olympics, and it created a snowball effect that has had repercussions across the country.
Rivas’ parents, Cristina and Raul, both teachers, have always been staunch supporters of their daughter’s gymnastics training and competition. Special Olympics El Salvador saw the adult Cristina’s potential and tapped her as the country’s Director of Special Olympics Get Into It® (SO Get Into It, an international service learning curriculum) pilot program in 2003. Under Cristina’s leadership the program went from a handful of schools teaching 700 students to 17 schools engaging 1,700 students.
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From left: Salvador Rivas, chaperone; Global Youth Summit partner Toribio Solis; and Special Olympics El Salvador athlete Miguel Moran pause for a photo at the speed skating venue at the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Nagano Japan. |
Because of the phenomenal growth of El Salvador’s SO Get Into It program, the country was invited to participate in the 2005 Special Olympics Global Youth Summit* held in conjunction with the World Winter Games in Japan. That’s when public awareness of Special Olympics in El Salvador skyrocketed. National newspapers wrote about the two of us, who were fortunate enough to represent our country and take part in the Youth Summit. We even visited with President Elias Antonio Saca! And after meeting with Cristina, the country’s Minister of Education decided to expand the SO Get Into It program to 1,000 schools.
Thanks to Monica Rivas, the power of one person who didn’t realize at the time the impact she would have on her family and thousands of students, teachers, volunteers and athletes, Special Olympics El Salvador is getting attention. Imagine what we could do if we all started making our dreams happen to make a real change in our world!
* The purpose of a Youth Summit is to bring together 10-20 youth pairs, ranging from ages 12 to 17. Each pair is composed of one Special Olympics athlete and one partner without an intellectual disabilities who, together, serve as delegates representing their school, community, state/province or nation. Youth Summits provide a forum in which students have discussion goals, including sharing their ideas and developing strategies with Special Olympics to help reverse negative, stereotypical attitudes about people with disabilities.
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