Success Stories from the Field Calling all Healthy Athletes Update readers! We are always looking for success stories from the field. If you have any stories about athletes, coaches, volunteers, partners or sponsors, please send them to Jessica Stone at jstone@specialolympics.org. Thank you! Betty Pheto Brings Health Promotion to South Africa Ms. Betty Pheto, Special Olympics South Africa, is a dietician who partners with Dr. Papaise Maduna to conduct health screenings and health education to athletes. The health status and health needs of Special Olympics South Africa athletes are very diverse. But according to Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Manager Annemarie Weiringer, the intervention remains the same; increase accessibility to health care and healthy choices and the athletes' health will improve. Barriers to access to health care and health education exist for Special Olympics athletes across the world. In South Africa, Betty Pheto is doing her best to try to eliminate some of these barriers for the athletes she works with. Healthy Athletes Update  Vice President's Corner  Spotlight AMSA Screenings Promoting Health Literacy Funding Alert Testifying Before Congress Support from Capital Hill Newsbytes Success Stories Pheto is a dietician who partners with Dr. Papaise Maduna in South Africa to conduct health screenings and health education to athletes. As one of the Special Olympics Health Promotion Clinical Directors in Africa, Pheto stresses using effective nutrition intervention that would address the challenges of availability, affordability and lack of knowledge, as well the contributing factors to unhealthy eating practices. Pheto's idea is to start “food gardens” within communities, especially urban communities and those with a relatively low standard of living. According to Pheto, these low-income communities need a program that would not only educate Special Olympics athletes on how to make healthy eating choices, but would make healthy food available on a daily basis. Although athletes from rural communities often eat fruits and vegetables every day, many in the urban communities lack the knowledge and resources to eat the recommended five a day. Pheto was trained to be a Health Promotion Clinical Director in August 2006. She was involved in health screenings in August and December 2006. Her biggest concern is that athletes lack the knowledge to make healthy choices, especially if they live in a historically disadvantaged community. Pheto has seen people die due to unhealthy eating habits and she knows that Special Olympics can positively impact athletes by providing better education on many health issues including nutrition, hydration, sun safety, tobacco and substance abuse, and bone health. Increasing an athlete's knowledge of healthy behaviors is not an easy job, especially in a country with so many languages and cultures. Fortunately for Special Olympics, Pheto speaks five languages: Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, Pedi and English. Pheto is a results-oriented health professional who says that volunteering with Special Olympics gives her great pleasure. She knows that Special Olympics Health Promotion is designed to empower Special Olympics athletes to change their unhealthy habits. Through Healthy Athletes, Pheto is able to “give back to the community…These kids are very special to me.” Betty Pheto is just one example of the many Healthy Athletes clinical directors who donate their time and talents to increase the quality of life for Special Olympics athletes. We thank her for her dedication and enthusiasm for our athletes. Return to Healthy Athletes Update, Spring 2007