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While accustomed to telling the stories of the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Global Youth Summit delegates switched roles and took center stage on 5 October 2007 at the fourth Global Youth Forum, poignantly leaving no question about the legacy that will be left behind after the world's largest sporting event staged this year.
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Young people with and without intellectual disabilities from around the world came together at the 2007 Special Olympics Global Youth Forum to share their experiences and ideas about making the world a more accepting and inclusive place.
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In the three-hour, game show style program filled with emotion, Global Youth Summit delegates officially launched the Youth Fan Club, a new, interactive online initiative leveraging several types of media to engage young people in the Special Olympics movement. A live audience of more than 500 school children, celebrities and volunteers attended the taping at the Shanghai Media Group studios.
With guest appearances by Special Olympics Global Spokesperson Colin Farrell, former Minnesota Vikings star Matt Blair, human rights activist Bianca Jagger and Special Olympics International Chairman Timothy Shriver, the star-studded cast highlighted the accomplishments of Special Olympics China while urging greater awareness and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities.
“The Chinese always put out an incredible welcome to the entire Special Olympics family,” Farrell said. “It is exciting to see what Special Olympics China has accomplished in a short while, and there’s much more to be done. Wherever Special Olympics goes in the world, it brings out the best in people.”
The Forum, designed to raise awareness about the Special Olympics movement among young people in China, will be broadcast to over 1 billion people throughout the country on 9 October at 7:30 p.m. on The Entertainment Channel.
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Actor Colin Farrell (center), with Global Youth Forum co-hosts SuperBoy winner Sung Xiao Bor and Chinese dancer Dodo, shared his passion for the Special Olympics movement with Global Youth Forum participants. |
Program co-hosts SuperBoy winner Sung Xiao Bor and Chinese dancer Dodo gave Global Youth Summit delegates the opportunity to speak at length about the importance of banning the use of the “R word” (retard) globally.
“I don’t like being called the R-word,” Global Youth Summit delegate and Special Olympics South Carolina (USA) athlete Rashad Richardson said. “I just want to be included, not made fun of.”
At one point, Farrell asked Global Youth Summit delegates Rubing Piao and Zhao Xiaoyue of Harbin, China, to speak to the strengths of the Unified Sports® program, in which Special Olympics athletes and partners without an intellectual disability train and compete in the same sport as teammates.
“I have learned respect, honesty, and optimism,” Piao, a Unified Sports partner in multiple sports, said. “Most of all I have learned to hope, knowing that I am important to Zhao.”
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Global Youth Summit delegates officially launched the Youth Fan Club, a new, interactive online initiative leveraging several types of media to engage young people in the Special Olympics movement. Visit the Youth Fan Club at http://www.specialolympics.org/
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Shriver hopes the Youth Fan Club will be just one way in which young people worldwide can join, share, volunteer and support the athletes of Special Olympics.
“The Youth Fan Club is a place for people to express their feelings and help us in promoting this movement—one of different abilities, not disabilities,” Shriver said.
In addition to their regular reporting assignments on activities at the World Games, Global Youth Summit delegates will visit Shanghai schools during the week of 8 October and have already begun conducting Webinars to continue discussions with students involved with the Special Olympics Get Into It® curriculum at schools in several countries worldwide.
Check out other 2007 World Games news. |
