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First-aid workers join other volunteers, such as coaches and officials, to make the Special Olympics Programs in Africa work.
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Ubiquitous is the only way to describe Special Olympics volunteers in Africa. That's because the Programs are all run by, organized by, officiated by and coached by volunteers. Everyone — from National Directors to Sports Directors and from secretaries to coaches and coordinators — is volunteering to support Special Olympics. These people give up every free moment — weekends, holidays and time with their families to keep the spirit of Special Olympics alive and growing in Africa. Visit their homes and you'll see the Special Olympics office for that country. Spend a weekend with them and you will be attending a sports training, clinic or a fundraising project. And these volunteers come from all walks of life. They are teachers, accountants, businessmen, physical education professionals, university professors, artists, clerks — you name it.
To give just one example of a Program run by volunteers, consider the Ivory Coast. In this country, there is no government support for special education. Almost all children and adults with intellectual disabilities are at home, receiving no education and no training and involved in no activities. Special Olympics Ivory Coast has gone to great lengths to reach out to all athletes. It organizes training on every Saturday of the month, every month of the year — and in more than one location! Athletes come alone or are brought by their parents. All receive appropriate and competent training and everyone takes part. It is not just the coaches who attend the training; the National Director and the members of the committee also attend and take part. As an example of the volunteers' dedication, In the first week of December 2001, the Ivory Coast held a national athletics competition with volunteers managing the entire event.
And you could visit countless countries in Africa and see the same level of commitment to Special Olympics. Without volunteers, there would be no Special Olympics Program in any country in Africa. At the conclusion of the Special Olympics Ivory Coast National Athletics Competition, as athletes were leaving the stadium, they called out to their coaches, "See you next Saturday!" For the volunteers in the Ivory Coast and throughout Africa there is no time off, no leave — there is always next Saturday!
Reprinted from Spirit magazine. By Kathryn Clark, Director of Organizational Development, Special Olympics Africa
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