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Over 350 children and teenagers with disabilities from Central Asian counties, Poland, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey participated in the Special Olympics in Bukhara.
It was organized by the Women's Committee of Uzbekistan, Ministry of Public Education, Ministry of Culture and Sports and such public organizations as "Forum of Culture and Art of Uzbekistan" Foundation, "Mehr nuri", Social Initiatives Support Fund and "Soglom avlod uchun". The UNDP, UNICEF and UNESCO offices in Uzbekistan supported this sports competition. The Bukhara regional administration, "Neftegaskurilishta'mir", "Amubukharakanakurilish", "Viloyat kurilish-1", "Trest-20" LLC and Bukhara oil processing plant hospitably received the guests.
"I am pleasantly shocked with organization of these open national games for boys and girls with disabilities", said Michel Deurinck, Advisor of Special Olympics in the European Parliament, in an interview with the UT. "The youth enjoy wonderful sports resources. The gymnasts competed for prizes in "Nafis" sports palace and badminton players in "Khumo" tennis court. It should be noted that such sports arenas as "Bukhara" central stadium, "Semurg", "Yoshlik" sports complexes and training base of the law college meet international requirements. I think that all people of this ancient city are involved in this sports tournament. There were posters, placard and greeting transparencies not only in main streets. I had a talk with some of 1500 volunteers who supported almost every athlete. Most of them spoke English perfectly and I observed their conversations with representatives of Afghanistan and Turkey. The youth came to support the sportsmen, being their brothers and sisters for a while. It means that the Special Olympics achieved its goal. Its opening ceremony was fantastic, being an enchanting holiday for the participants. I have seen such a thing in no country of the world. The enchanting sight may be repeated but not surpassed".
Michel Deurinck also stressed that both government and public organizations are actively participating in the implementation of system program on rehabilitating invalids. There is still no such a consolidation of efforts in most of 160 countries involved in the Special Olympics.
If our colleagues from Uzbekistan offer us suggestions and applications, we are ready to cooperate with them in various projects.
The Forum of Central Asia on inclusive education was held in Bukhara within the framework of Special Olympics. Representatives of administration bodies, authorities and staff of republican and international public organizations, specialized in children's psychological and educational rehabilitation and correction, made reports and recommendations. The activity of "Hayot" (Samarkand), "Imkon" (Surkhandarya) and "Umr" (Navoi) centers for supporting invalids were widely discussed during the forum. The Social Initiatives' Support Fund presented its pilot project.
Participants of the forum worked out general suggestions on developing the inclusive education.
As for sports results, there were no losers. Everyone observed the Olympic principle: it is important to participate, not to win. All sportsmen were almost awarded prices. The sports delegation of Tashkent, Andijan, Jizzakh, Kashkadarya and certainly Bukhara won more medals. The guests from Poland and Tajikistan were among track and field winners. The basketball players of Azerbaijan and football players of Turkmenistan showed good results as well.
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Date: May 23, 2007
Source: Uzbekistan Today |
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