Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit Athens 2011

Nadira Puteri Kusaeni *)

Getting involved in social activities is not the first time for me. My school’s presidency (OSIS) has several social activities, like teaching unlucky children, giving money to the poor, and many more. But being a volunteer that can go abroad, representing our country, is a brand new thing. It must be a brand new thing for the other people, too.

I am now the Youth Leader of Special Olympics Indonesia (SOIna). SOIna is a sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities, e.g. Down syndrome, autism, etc. It all started when my physical education teacher informed me that there was this open recruitment for high school students under 17 to become SOIna’s Youth Leader. She said that SOIna needed someone capable to represent the Indonesian youth for the Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit (GYAS) in Athens, Greece.

I was shocked at first, and happy of course, seeing the fact that she picked me and my two other friends instead of hundreds of students Labschool Rawamangun has. Me and my two friends sent our CVs to SOIna to be selected. We had to wait until the announcement. It was quite a nerve-wrecking time for me.

Then suddenly Natasya from SOIna called me on the phone. She said that Simon from Special Olympics Asia Pacific is going to call me for an interview. I passed the interview test, and he said that I’m the one who’s going to represent Indonesia for the GYAS 2011.

A Special Olympics Youth Leader is important, regarding to the lack of awareness of the Indonesian people and the Goverment. According to my survey to 31 students of SMA Labschool Jakarta, 79% of them still look down (underestimate) the people with intellectual disabilities. They think that they’re retarded, gross, and a pity. It was such a great honor for me to become the SOIna one.  It’s like a dream came true.

The Indonesian GYAS team consists of three people, me , Yofan, and Herlin. I was the partner for one athlete – which was intellectually challenged – Yofan Aditia. He was on the same age as me and we became close to each other after several meetings before our departure. There was one chaperone, Herlin Suherlan, somebody that worked for Mattel Indonesia. She was the adult that accompanied us during the GYAS.

Finally came the day that we were leaving for Athens. Our flight was 1 am in the morning and I was so sleepy. But the long wait at the airport and the long flight to Athens were all worth it. Athens was such a beautiful city! The city has many mountains, that we can see from above. The buildings are old and antique, what a historical city!

We then got into our hotel, which was the place that we were going to stay for the next two days. My roommate was Hasnat Hashnawi from Pakistan and Mrs. Suzette Babst from The Philiippines. That hotel was also the place where we conducted our activities, and most of them are seminars and presentations. There were more than 100 youth from about 30 different countries, gathered to discuss youth leadership, social change and creating school communities of acceptance and inclusion.

My favorite part during the GYAS 2011 was touring the Acropolis, marching at the Opening Ceremony and playing Unified Sports. Acropolis is one of the most famous historical landscape located in Greece. At the Acropolis, there are several ancient buildings, and the most famous building is the Parthenon, which is a temple dedicated to the Greek goddess, Athena. It was such a magnificent view.

The other best part was marching at the Opening Ceremony. The Special Olympics World Summer Games Opening Ceremony was held at the Panathinaiko Stadium, the stadium that held the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Marching at that stadium was such a great honor. The GYAS team marched first, before the athletes came out!

                Another interesting part was playing Unified Sports at the American Hellenic College. We played soccer, basketball, and volleyball together with the athletes. It was so fun! I was so bad at volleyball, the athletes were better than me! Hahaha.

                There was also a Cultural Night, where we dressed up in our native attire, presenting our culture, and exchanging gifts that we prepared back home. In our theam, the girls wore white Kebayas and Batik skirts, while Yofan, the athlete, wore Javanese Beskap and Blankon. We also bought Angklung keychains to be exchanged with the other gifts.

Two weeks gone so fast and we all had to say goodbye. Meeting people from all around the world was such an amazing experience. We all worked and played together, no matter our differences. It was sad to leave everyone, but we had to, right?

Now, back to Indonesia, I, as the Youth Leader, have to make some programs to achieve the GYAS goal: Social Justice and Inclusion. One of my programs is having a presentation to high schools about SOIna, so it will create awareness to people about this problem. I hope that people won’t look down on intellectually challenged people and the world will be more inclusive!

*) 3rd grade of  SMA LABSCHOOL Jakarta