Haiti - Social : Pamela White met with young disabled sports enthusiasts Haitians
Friday, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Pamela White met at the U.S. Embassy with 12 Haitian youth and sports enthusiasts with disabilities. The group recently returned from a 10-day U.S. Government sponsored sports disability exchange program in the United States. The students and six adult coaches who accompanied them shared their experiences of joining a group of American youth with disabilities in specialized sporting and leadership activities. The Ambassador congratulated the Haitian participants on their achievement and encouraged them to continue to use sports as a means to excel personally and to promote greater inclusion in Haiti for the physically disabled.
The sports exchange was funded by the U.S. Department of State and coordinated by BlazeSports America, a U.S. non-governmental organization that promotes physical activities for people with physical disabilities. The program took place at a residential sports camp in Warm Springs, Georgia. During the camp, he Haitian youth participated in and received coaching in track and field, swimming and wheelchair tennis, basketball and rugby. All activities, including cultural excursions, were conducted jointly with their young American counterparts.
The Haitian participants ranged in age from 11 to 19 and came from Port-au-Prince, Mirebalais and Port-de-Paix. The program’s goal are to give new sporting skills to youth with disabilities and to develop their self-confidence and leadership skills to help them advance their personal goals and to act as advocates for greater inclusion of the physically disabled in their home country.
