Engaging Youth with Disabilities from Africa and the Middle East in Sport and Leadership Programs
Without question, one of the most meaningful and cherished
experiences of my over 25 year professional career as a university
professor has been working with international exchange programs for
youth with disabilities sponsored by the Office of Citizen Exchanges of
the U.S. Department of State.
Over a five-year period, my colleague, Carol Mushett-Johnson, Executive Director of BlazeSports America, and I conducted several exchange programs under the International Sports Programming Initiative. Traveling to numerous countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East a team of experts including high school and college athletes presented train-the-trainer workshops to emerging disability sport leaders. In turn, we hoped that through the multiplier effect these leaders would engage thousands of young persons with disabilities in sport and physical activity programs. Many young people with disabilities and emerging disability sport leaders from abroad also visited the metro Atlanta, Georgia area to attend youth training camps.
Through our past and ongoing projects, we promote friendship and mutual understanding while also ensuring that inclusionary practices are highlighted in participating countries. Our further goal is to promote basic human rights and consideration for persons with disabilities, especially women and girls, who often are excluded from community involvement in their native countries because of inaccessible buildings, sidewalks/streets and transportation, prevailing social stigma and little opportunity.
The typical disability sport project is an intensive, multinational field-based professional development project to strengthen the youth sport infrastructure in the target nation(s) through train-the-trainer 3- to 5-day workshops. Following the workshops, we typically engage workshop attendees in a disability sports festival with local youth in order to give them hands-on experience with the topics we covered.
Our first sports festival was conducted in Cairo, Egypt, on a Saturday and I will never forget the hundreds of girls and young women who exited the buses arriving at the Cairo Sports Hall to participate in sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, table tennis, goal ball and several other adaptive activities. The smiles, laughter and photos were plentiful that day as new friendships were made and many young women participated in sports and recreation activities for the first time in their lives. None of us wanted to see the day come to an end. We always look forward to the festivals because we know first-hand how enriching the experience is for young people with disabilities. We always leave hoping that the adult leaders we train remain as energized as the youth participants – thereby increasing the likelihood that a meaningful sport program will be developed in the host country.
A key project component includes coordinating sport and leadership camps in the metro Atlanta, Georgia area for youth with disabilities from North Africa and the Middle East. Since 2002, nearly fifty youth with diverse disabilities and emerging disability sport leaders have traveled to the United States to attend BlazeCamp, a summer sports camp for youth with disabilities, or to attend an International Youth Leadership Camp. It is a joint leadership development program of BlazeSports America and Kennesaw State University, where I am Professor of Sports Science and Associate Dean for Community Partnerships and Global Initiatives.
One young person selected to attend the BlazeSports program was Egyptian student Ahmed Sarhan. Sarhan, who has cerebral palsy that affects his right hand and leg movement, decided to go on an exchange program to the United States to increase his self-confidence, meet new people and experience a new culture. Indeed, he became more independent and confident of himself as the exchange experience progressed and his ability to communicate in English improved significantly during his stay. Sarhan shared that the most rewarding part of his experience was playing alongside other young people with diverse and sometimes significant disabilities and gaining a true and lasting understanding of team work.
Based on program evaluations, the program had a significant impact on youth participants from both countries. Like Sarhan, other Egyptian youth participants noted that they concluded the program with a greater degree of independence and respect for people from different backgrounds with diverse disabilities. U.S. youth also noted a newfound sense of awareness and respect for people from other cultures and enjoyed learning some introductory Arabic. In a message to future participants with disabilities, one U.S. participant shared, “Be positive about trying new things, have an open mind and step out of your comfort zone.” Clearly, hundreds of youth with disabilities are being challenged to do just that through this innovative project to share the life-long benefits of sport with young people from around the world.
Sports programs sponsored through the Office of Citizen Exchanges support non-profit institutions to conduct projects that enhance and improve the infrastructure of youth sports programs worldwide and promote mutual understanding and long-lasting ties between the United States and other countries.
