Just the beginning…

As students finish up their final tests and get ready for summer to officially begin, we wanted to share an amazing reflection from Special Olympics Rhode Island’s Youth Activation Committee Chair, Karolyn Sundberg. As Karolyn readies herself to transition from high school to college, she shares some powerful insights on the positive impact of Project UNIFY throughout her high school experience.  

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss

As senior year and my time as Special Olympics Rhode Island’s Youth Activation Committee chair comes to a close – this quote offers advice that I will soon have to take.

Reflecting on this past year as Chair of the Youth Activation Committee (YAC) – there have been countless wonderful memories – new experiences, goals reached, friendships made, and people who were inspired to come together for a truly amazing cause.  I am so incredibly proud of and moved by the devoted young leaders of our SORI Project UNIFY movement;  so proud of those individuals who have been so dedicated to working on all of our projects this year. Now our goal is to continue to reach out to youth in our state to spread the ideas of inclusion, unity, and acceptance.

I am exceedingly grateful for such a wonderful experience.

My involvement with Special Olympics began in the fall of my junior year.  I was  assigned to help plan the SORI annual Youth Forum and immediately fell in love with the atmosphere that surrounded Special Olympics and everyone involved.  While at this point there were only about 15 members and meeting attendance was sparse, we still began to see how powerful and motivating youth could be when it came to promoting inclusion and unity in their high schools. At my first YAC meeting of this year – I was awed to see how many students had eagerly come out to get involved with the program.  In just one year, our YAC had grown so large that it was divided into 5 regions, where each region was assigned to different tasks and projects.  Through the YAC, I have had the privilege of meeting some of the kindest, hardest working students from every corner of the state.  All of us had one common purpose – to speak out for equality and acceptance among students with and without disabilities.

I remember at the first YAC meeting  - it seemed as if there was so much to be done.  However, I never would have imagined that we would have been able to achieve some of the things we did this year. The YAC planned and organized a Youth Forum for athletes, partners and coaches to learn about ways to promote inclusion and inspire unity. We planned and organized the very first Middle School Youth Forum in the Nation. We created a statewide newsletter to share our stories of success and spread the word about our cause. Also, we successfully encouraged high school students to participate and support the Torch Run Plunge and Spread the Word to End the Word campaign in their schools.  We had record numbers participate in both of events.

Most importantly, this year as the YAC chair, I witnessed how Special Olympics touches the lives and hearts of so many people in so many ways.  I experienced firsthand the difference it makes. Special Olympics taught me to embrace differences and recognize talents in everyone.  I now realize the importance of the positivity and support Special Olympics offers to everyone and the confidence one can find inwardly after becoming involved. I continue to be inspired by the work the SORI YAC is doing and am honored to have had the chance to be a part of such a great group of people.

I know that my involvement with Special Olympics is something that will not end, and I am so thankful for the opportunity.

2013 Special Olympics Rhode Island Youth Forum

Aspiration and Inspiration

The following guest post comes from Rajeswari Ranjan, a youth leader and advocate with Special Olympics Bharat (India). Over the last two years, Special Olympics Project UNIFY has expanded globally in five countries – Bharat, Austria, Italy, Serbia and Romania – thanks to the generous support of Ray and Stephanie Lane.  

My name is Rajeswari Ranjan of India! It gives me great pleasure to put down my experience as being a part of this prestigious community that strives to serve and reduce the gap between people with and without intellectual disabilities. It’s been more than a year since I have been associated with Special Olympics and Project UNIFY! Special Olympics provides people with intellectual disabilities opportunities to realize their potential, develop physical fitness, experience joy and friendship.

My special friends are not only filled with zeal but have a great courage in them to move on in life as each day passes by! They act as a role model for me because I believe that “not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until faced”. They are the real heroes of our generation because they have the courage and potential to face everything in life with great dedication and sincerity! They have inspired me to become like them! The only disability in life is a bad attitude!

Hence, from nowhere can my friends be called disabled because they live life to the fullest and are filled with positive energy! It’s been a great experience working with them right from the beginning of the Project UNIFY Youth Leaders Training Program, Opening Eyes Programs, Youth Activation Committee Workshop followed by the Unified Sports Festival, Project UNIFY Awareness Program and the Project UNIFY Cultural Program that I have attended to date! Being a sportsperson at the national level, I am very happy to regard myself as a youth leader!

Hats off to the entire team for such an innovative work! Everyone’s doing a great job.

Age Isn’t a Predictor for Success

Clement Coulston and Kaitlyn Smith are members of the Special Olympics Project UNIFY National Youth Activation Committee.  They were recently asked to co-author one of the 11 Practice Briefs, focusing on School Climate and Inclusion.  

Often times when society thinks of “valuable contributors” to issues, discussions and insights, the first image that appears in their mind is one of a well-educated and experienced adult; very rarely is that intuition one of a young person. Youth are constantly told and often led to believe that they are “the leaders of tomorrow,” but what about today? Youth are the ones in the schools, collaborating with educators, and hold the power to make a change.

The magic of Special Olympics Project UNIFY® is the belief in young people to identify challenges in schools, co-create solutions, implement these strategies and reflect on its impact.  Young people of all abilities have valuable insights and can contribute innovative ideas, but we must re-orientate our expectations of how their talent can be best utilized.

The National School Climate Center (NSCC) has worked with youth leaders, like us, from Project UNIFY and has seen our potential.  With our extensive experience and interest in areas concerning School Climate and Inclusion, the NSCC asked us to author a Practice Brief encompassing our experiences, thereby providing strategies and practices that students, educators and the whole school community can further advance.

Below are some of our favorite excerpts from this 4-page Practice Brief. We encourage you to take a deeper look – the brief can be found in conjunction with other briefs on equity and shared leadership here: 
http://bit.ly/YcXFnr

Inclusion is a set of best practices and shared values that meaningfully support the diversity that each person brings to the school.

Students are the ones who have the power to alter the school climate in either a negative or positive way, based upon their perception of what a school climate should feel like. Students hold the power to make it either socially acceptable or unacceptable to unite with their fellow classmates who have differences.

At the center of Inclusion is the notion that diversity is an ever-growing phenomenon that evokes a need for the community to cultivate global citizenship in today’s students.

To My Friend…

The beautiful poem below was written by 14-year old Project UNIFY youth leader Raven McCombs from North Carolina.

Special Olympics athlete Taylor Stickle listens on as Raven McCombs reads her poem.

Your spirit has taught me that we are so far behind, you face challenges that don’t compare to mine.

I am in awe of all of your courage, you never seem to get discouraged.

We all often just walked on by, and never noticed the light in your eye.

You always accept us for who we are, and he is the reason we have made it this far.

It is my honor to call you a friend, a friend I’ll be there for them beginning to end.

Not another day will go by where you have to sit and wonder why.

I’ll be there for you, you’ll be there for me. Our trust is the clue and our love is the key.

2013 Special Olympics Global Development Summit – The Youth Voice

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Clement Coulston and Rachel Ward, Global Youth Facilitators for the 2013 Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit participated in the inaugural Global Development Summit, which gathered 300 world leaders from areas of government, business, education, economic and social development, media … Continue reading →

Farewell to the GYAS

The day is finally upon us – we have to bid farewell to all of our amazing youth leaders and chaperones and officially close the 2013 Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit.

The past 10 days have been energetic, thought provoking, inspiring and amazing. These passionate youth leaders from around the world are primed to make positive change in their communities and are ready to promote acceptance, respect and dignity for all people.

As we close out the 2013 GYAS, I wanted to leave you with a few words from Sashi Montaña and Brina Maxino of the Philippines. These dynamic and effervescent young women were elected by their peers to serve as the co-chairs for the 2013 – 2015 GYAS. In this role, they’ll help guide their fellow youth leaders in activating Special Olympics around the world and help to plan for the 2015 GYAS in Los Angles, California.

“My name is Sashi Montaña, youth partner for the Global Youth Activation Summit (GYAS), and I am writing this together with Brina Maxino, Special Olympics athlete, and we are from the Philippines.

We are thrilled and very honored to be elected as the co-chairs for the next GYAS in Los Angeles, World Summer Games 2015! We are beyond grateful for this opportunity to be part of this wonderful movement. We will continue to strive to do our best always.

During the GYAS, we have learned many valuable and practical things and we have made awesome new friends from different delegations around the world who share the same mission and vision. We have created such beautiful memories together that we will never forget! It would be an understatement to say that it has been such an AMAZING summit!
We have definitely caught on the fire of Special Olympics and we want to pass it on to others as it was passed on to us. We want to lead and activate other youth like us to be agents of change.

Brina and I may not be as experienced and skilled as others may be because of their long involvement with Special Olympics, but we learned that what matters most is our hearts. We have the hearts to change the world. We believe that a difference can be made in this world if we have the love and the courage to help, be selfless, and do all that we can do. We will achieve our responsibilities with positive, motivated and changed hearts.

Many believe in us, we believe in ourselves and we believe in each other.”

Their spirit, passion and dedication is a true representation of the power and determination of our GYAS youth leaders.

Good luck to all as you head home to change the world!

Together We Can

Rahma Aly is a Special Olympics athlete from Cairo, Egypt. Along with her partner Farah Ghaffar, Rahma is representing Special Olympics Egypt at the 2013 Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit. Below is a speech Rahma developed and presented to her fellow Youth Activation Summit members.

I was honored to represent Special Olympics Egypt (the land of pharos) and to be chosen to attend the Global Youth Summit. I came here to pass a message of awareness, respect and friendship to all of you and to people who still believe that we are different.

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Rahma. I am 16 years old and I have Down syndrome. I think we all know the scientific meaning of the word, it has been explained to us by people around us, maybe our doctors, our families or others who care. I am here with you now full of pride of who I am and everything I have done until now.

I truly think that the first step was my family who were brave enough to face the problem, and when you face a problem you must be true and frank to yourself.

Of course, you all want to know me. I am Rahma and I study at Alsun School for tourism and hotels year 2. I enjoy my study as it prepares me for my future work and career.

Also, I think it is very important to practice any kind of sport, I have chosen swimming to be my favorite. I practice it since I was four years old and I got my first medal at the age of 13.

I travelled to lots of different place – Syria, Lebanon and succeeded to get 4 medals – 2 gold, 1 silver and another bronze.

I am talking also to people who still believe we are different. We are not, we need only a chance and if we are given this opportunity, we will succeed.

Love, understanding, believing and willing to accept others, no matter how different they are is my message. Don’t consider us different, we are part of this society, we can help, participate and succeed.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you for being here. All who helped by advice or support, let us all repeat it strongly and clearly to the whole universe – love is the answer to all the problems of the world. Love fills us with courage, to face, to struggle, to be a part of the globe.

We are still and shall continue fighting to gain our rights.

We are here and together we can.

We are here and together we can.

A Focus on Value and Respect

Day four at the 2013 Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit – youth leaders came together to celebrate the power and importance of young people in the Special Olympics Movement.

Read below to hear about some of the amazing activities from the day.

Today, GYAS leaders discussed and identified the values that they see in Special Olympics Project UNIFY. For each value, youth either described its meaning or shared personal experiences corresponding to that value. Through this, we were able to articulate how our unique experiences combine in creating this “for the youth, by the youth” movement. Read a brief sample of the work below to understand the values of Project UNIFY according to our GYAS teams:

• TEAMWORK — “Teamwork is very important because we are shaped by the people around us. We South Africans believe in the spirit of Ubuntu.” – Vincent Ramorwesi & Thapelo Nthite, South Africa
• COURAGE — “It takes courage for one to stand by the athletes no matter what problems they face.” – Peter Kamade & Francis Gitau, Kenya
• THE SPIRIT OF SPORT — “Whether you win or lose at the end, you should always enjoy the process.” – Ngan Ieng Chan & Io Seng Lei, Macau
• OPPORTUNITY — “Giving youth a voice.” – Giovanna De Luca, Italy
• ACCEPTANCE — “It fosters positive attitudes towards people with disabilities as it shows their capabilities and talents.” – Rahma Aly & Farah Ghaffar, Egypt
• RESPECT — Respecting everyone’s difference because ‘we are more alike than different.” – Vashti Thompson & Jodi Cornish, Bahamas

Following an engaging “Youth Do Change the World” session, GYAS leaders headed to Alpensia Resort to watch competitions, explore the Festival Village and participate in the Global Youth Rally, a fun and interactive event that shared the messages of acceptance, unity and friendship with about 900 domestic (Korea) and international students.

The theme of the Global Youth Rally was ‘Tied Together’ and encouraged rally participants to bond together to create awareness for Special Olympics and initiate meaningful social change in their communities, countries and beyond. In an inspiring moment amongst lots of dancing, singing and fun, Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver, issued a call to participants, “Who is the next revolutionary… you are! Your time is now. The last great human rights revolution is being lead by you.”

Since a picture’s worth a thousand words… check out a photo album that shares some of the great memories from our adventures today.

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Reflection…What Does this Mean to You?

Is it a fancy word for answering questions? A time to fill out a survey with options (A), (B) or (C)? Or, is reflection a:

• Summation of one’s personal experiences, feelings and ideas, which influence the way he or she interacts with the world?
• Opportunity to synthesize new information, with one’s existing knowledge, thus identifying areas of congruity and areas of disparity?
• Springboard to deepen or modify one’s inner morals and principles, through surmising on topics that challenge us to craft our “personal opinion”?
• Learning moment when one shares his or her reflection with the group, painting a “clearer and inclusive picture” of the topic?

Today, Youth Leaders at the 2013 Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit, engaged in a Comprehensive Reflection Time, even though we have only participated in Four Youth Do Change the World Educational Sessions.  Rather than waiting until the end of the Summit to reflect, we allotted time so we can (1) celebrate our successes (2) identify our challenges and (3) create an action plan moving forward.

Through an interactive protocol, everyone was able to discuss these important questions, while meeting new people.  From the reflection, we co-created a list of seven action points, that we will incorporate throughout the rest of the Summit.  As you can see from these pictures, the value and creative expression from fellow youth leaders is nothing less-than amazing.

As young people, we are redefining how we can best support each other. As co-leaders, we are taking the roles of both teachers and learners. As advocates, we are committing ourselves to equity, inclusion and dignity for all People.

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A Call to Action – Ready to Share YOUR Story?

In history classes, students learn about the lives of our Founding Fathers such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and even Benjamin Franklin.  Students discover the important contributions these leaders sacrificed in leading the Citizens of the United States of America, through times of happiness and sadness.  Each one of them had a unique personal message and perspective of this world.  Now I ask, “What is your story?”

When Eunice Kennedy Shriver saw the injustices, the exclusion and the inequities facing persons with disabilities, she founded a Camp to capitalize on the idea of “yes we can!” through engaging in sports.  For nearly 45 years, Special Olympics has grown from a vision to a reality, empowering more than 4 million Special Olympics athletes from over 170 countries.  Many initiatives such as Healthy Athletes, Spread the Word to End the Word, and Project UNIFY have strengthened our message of inclusion, acceptance and dignity for all people.

The United Nations Post-2015 Civil Society is part of a group of consultants from throughout the world, inquiring for our experiences as youth in today’s world.  The topic is on Young People and Inequalities and the last day for submissions is January 18, 2013.

Now is it YOUR Turn, to share YOUR Story!

We encourage you to:

1. Create an account which can be completed quickly.
2. Contribute to the online discussion about the inequalities facing Young People:
   1. Do we believe that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as people without disabilities?
   2. Do we co-create inclusive school environments that are supportive, respectful and equitable?
   3. Do we value that people of all abilities are assets that can contribute their unique gifts and talents to the community?
3. Follow @inequality2015 on Twitter; Tweet including the Hashtag, #inequalities2015
4. Activate your friends, family and the community to contribute too!

You may be thinking, where should I begin?  You can use the following paragraph to start your post, and then share your personal experiences from Special Olympics.

I am an advocate and believer in the Special Olympics Movement that provides opportunity and growth for persons with intellectual disabilities.  Through awareness and education, youth are co-creating equitable and inclusive schools, celebrating the talents and gifts of all people.  Through Unified Sports and Inclusive Youth Leadership, we continue to crush the barriers of exclusion and build communities of respect and inclusion.  We are thankful for the progress that has been made in making this world a more just place for all people.   We declare that more needs to break free from chains of hatred and initiate community bonds of acceptance and love. 

Thank YOU for your leadership and courage in taking action on our Dignity Revolution for all People!

We are United,

We are Committed,

And we ARE Agents of Change!

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About the Author: Clement Coulston is a National Youth Activation Committee Member who is co-chairing a committee that is developing an Inclusive Youth Leadership Guide for high school students, and State YACs to engage, support and encourage this type of leadership.