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H.E. Asma Al-Assad, First Lady of Syria and Honorary Chairperson of Special Olympics Syria (right), meets with volunteers and athletes at the First Middle East/North Africa Symposium in Damascus, Syria. Photo courtesy of Special Olympics Middle/East North Africa. |
Special Olympics Middle East/North Africa recently held a highly successful inaugural Regional Symposium and Health Professional Training Program, 12-15 September 2005 in Damascus, Syria. Under the auspices of H.E. Asma Al-Assad, First Lady of Syria and Honorary Chairperson of Special Olympics Syria, more than 1,200 participants, including over 350 health professionals, scholars, and researchers, convened to promote the welfare of people with intellectual disabilities. Participants represented 16 countries in the Middle East/North Africa region, as well as Iran, Europe and the United States.
Through scientific and policy presentations and the training of clinical leaders for the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® initiative, extensive information was presented and policy issues explored. The symposium, the most highly attended regional or worldwide symposium ever convened by Special Olympics, aimed at educating leaders from various sectors and various Middle Eastern countries about the needs and opportunities for supporting people with intellectual disability and empowering them to become physically fit and socially functional.
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Some of the new Middle East/North Africa Clinical Directors who were trained at the Symposium take a well-deserved break. Some 100 children and adults with intellectual disabilities received free health screenings from Healthy Athletes volunteer health care professionals at the Symposium. Photo courtesy of Special Olympics Middle East/North Africa. |
A Healthy Athletes train-the-trainer session was held prior to the Symposium’s opening in order to prepare several dozen new clinical directors from Middle East/North Africa countries to be able to implement the Healthy Athletes program in their home countries. Professionals were trained in the areas of vision care, hearing, health promotion and physical therapy. Mrs. Al-Assad personally visited the screening site where some 100 children and adults with intellectual disabilities received free health screenings over two days, interacting freely with both those receiving the free health screenings and the volunteers. Additionally, during the Symposium, exhibitions were staged for medical equipment and supplies, equipment aids for people with disabilities, products handmade by people with disabilities and children’s art.
Special Olympics Global Messenger Dina Galal, from the Middle East/North Africa region, shared her experiences with Special Olympics since her first encounter with the movement in 1995. She pointed to patience as the most important lesson that she learned during this eventful journey. Special Olympics Syria athlete Marwa Al-Gaby related her experience with disability and creativity, and how she conquered her fears and disabilities to win various medals in aquatics. She then talked about her participation in Special Olympics activities on both the local and regional levels. Her most “victorious” moment, as she put it, was when she succeeded in successfully piloting an airplane in a flight simulator.
The opening ceremony was attended by Ministers for Social Affairs and Labor from various countries (including Syrian Minister for Social Affairs and Labor Dyala Al-Hag), a number of the People’s Assembly members, public organizations, vocational syndicates’ Presidents, representatives of Arab and international organizations, and a number of Ambassadors in Syria.
The event raised awareness for attendees and created opportunities for open dialogue about intellectual disability and the opportunity for supporting people with intellectual disabilities in Middle Eastern countries. The Symposium is anticipated to spur enhanced activities in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East/North Africa region to grow the Special Olympics movement. |
