Cristopher is a 25-year-old from the city of Lambaré. Cristopher is an active participant in the programs of Special Olympics Paraguay. He has been practicing athletics with Special Olympics for 10 years, and had the opportunity to represent Paraguay in the World Games in Abu Dhabi in 2019, where he won a bronze medal in long jump. When he returned from these Games, he began his role of assistant coach in his sport. Cristopher also actively participates in the athlete leadership program, where he was part of the local Athlete Input Council. This year he was able to participate in a youth scholarship to help people to have a healthier life. Cristopher is a part of the Unified Generation because as an athlete, he feels more secure and accompanied with his Unified peers.

Aline is a 17-year-old student at the Japanese Paraguayan school. Aline has worked as a volunteer with Special Olympics. She initially became involved through her school last March. She has worked to facilitate monthly Unified Sporting events in her area as a volunteer. Aline felt the power of inclusion through this opportunity, as she was able to see how valuable sports can be in bridging any gaps between youth with and without ID, perceived or otherwise. Aline is a part of the Unified Generation because she genuinely enjoys participating in Special Olympics as a volunteer. Within the organization and outside of it, she respects all people with and without ID. She believes everyone is equal and deserving of respect.
Cristopher and Aline are aware of the necessity of financial literacy in terms of building life skills and accomplishing the necessary tasks of life. They noticed a lack of education made accessible to youth with intellectual disabilities and will design a course to educate youth with and without ID on this topic. They hope that through their project they can bridge this gap in financial literacy education. Christopher and Aline firmly believe that every person deserves an education that will allow them to thrive within their community independently. Their project will help them reach members of their community who will benefit from this course to produce this outcome.
Aline and Stephen want to ensure that Special Olympic Athletes have autonomy and financial Independence, with the help of Special Olympics. They will also work to get financial institutions to review and simplify the requirements to open accounts, so that Special Olympics Athletes can open their own accounts. Aline and Stephen want to implement Easy-Read and trained staff to make banking more accessible for those with Intellectual Disabilities.
The impact of “Financial Inclusion in Paraguay” was great! Aline and Stephen taught their colleagues with Intellectual Disabilities how to manage their money, and how their family could help them. The pair were also able to educate some of the banks and teach them how they can better assist those with Intellectual disabilities. Aline and Stephen learned while implementing their project how to speak in public. More importantly, they learned the best practices to help others understand the importance of managing money and financial literacy!
Aline and Stephen were able to hone and develop their public speaking skills through this project. The two at first struggled to find financial institutions that would work with them. Through Aline’s father and Special Olympics Paraguay, they were able to find financial institutions that would partner with them, and that were willing and wanting to learn. Aline and Stephen are most proud of being able to educate Special Olympics Athletes on how to budget and also teach banks how to be more inclusive. Moving forward, they are going to continue their partnerships with the banks that participated and even include them in Unified Sports! They want to make sure that the banks they partnered with continue to uphold the commitment that they made to inclusion!