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Leonid Stroiline (left in above photo), poses with fellow volunteers Sergey Pavlenko (front) and Nina Chshblanova (center) as well as mentor Olga Kozlitina (right).
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Special Olympics Russia Athletes form Committee
Leonid Stroiline is a man of action. He is an avid Special Olympics athlete. He is a newly elected Special Olympics Russia Board Member. And now he is the driving force behind a volunteer athlete committee being organized at Internat (boarding school) No.16 in Moscow.
The idea of creating a committee came after Stroiline participated in the 2001 Special Olympics Europe/ Eurasia Regional Conference, taking part in the session that focused on athletes as Board Members. "During the conference, I began to understand how important my ideas could be in developing opportunities for others," Stroiline said.
When Stroiline returned to the internat he began working with aide Olga Kozlitina. "I explained to Leonid that the conference had given him a unique opportunity that he had to seize if he wanted to establish a forum that really represented athletes' interests," Kozlitina said.
Stroiline had no problem soliciting additional volunteers — 10 of his friends eagerly joined the committee. "I told them that we needed to look at ways to improve fitness skills, get more people involved, start new sports and increase the number of competitions," he said.
Sergey Pavlenko, a committee member and dedicated athlete, said, "Sports is the way we can become part of society so I welcome the chance to be able to increase our opportunities."
However, the volunteers will not only focus on sports, says Nina Chshblanova. "The committee is important because it will get us to start thinking about how we can improve our lives. For instance, I want to see more people learn to read and write. That is the only way they will be able to get a job," she said.
by Martha Jo Braycich, Special Olympics Europe-Eurasia Communication and Media Director. Reprinted from Spirit Magazine, Quarter 2, 2002
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