SpECIaL Olympics NatIonAls. 2.0.

Last week we had the National special olympics. it was very last minute but worked out wonderfully. I had two athletes that were able to come and they had a really great time. Three days of events! I took pictures on the last day because that's when everyone would be there. As last year, there was table tennis with one child who had a disability and one child that did not. There was short jump (although it should be long jump because that is the real event in special olympics) and athletics. While this is my third special olympics in the past year, it is exciting and incredible to see how it has caught on. I absolutely love that it is starting to gain so much acknowledgement. There was also a camera man. He has a disability and is successful in life. He and his coworker are creating a documentary about special olympics to share. It was an incredibly humbling experience to meet him.

Davaa Showing off bracelets that she received when the contracted ESPN news team was here.

Adra, the successful camera man who has disabilities.

EsPn ContrAcTeD DoCumEnTarY CrEW

Davaa was one of 7 athletes from all over the world recently chosen to have a 5 minute documentary created about her to air before the LA Special Olympics. The documentary crew came over the course of 2 days and I spent the entire time with them. The 12 hour days were exhausted but yielded some amazing footage of a day in Davaa's life. Her parents were there as well to participate in the documentary. The community has really come together to support her and views of disabilities in Mongolia are started to shift. The past year with this little gal has been an incredible experience!

 These guys were amazing. Pictured left to right Tess, and Rob. Tess on camera and Rob does sound!

 Amanda brought Davaa bracelets. She loved them! She was the producer for Davaa's Story.

CoS ConFerEnce!

THE END OF SERVICE!

This was an exciting time...but also bitter sweet because of the fallen. We met for three days to discuss how to market ourselves post Peace Corps, how to translate our experience into skills that people would want. In the Peace Corps you learn skills that you would not otherwise learn in the real world and I value everything that I have done here! Here are some pics from the last day. I received my COS certificate.

ThE InTerNaTiOnaL CrEatIve WriTiNg ComPetItIon

I started collecting data for this activity in November because I had to complete a grant to legitimize it in Mongolia. The grant that I wrote covered certificates, medals, candy, and other small prizes for the competition. 15 aimags had signed up and all but one participated! 22 Peace Corps countries signed up all over the world and at the conclusion, 16 participated. The grant itself was difficult. It was a government grant that I had to write, with budget included and once accepted funds were raised online through crowdsurfing.  Volunteers were asked to make sure their CP's participated and that they held classes that focused on creative writing. I collaborated with international coordinators and a couple of other country coordinators to choose culturally acceptable prompts. Each grade had two prompts that they chose from. In order to make my life a bit easier in translating the slew of prompts, I had aimag (province coordinators) work with their counterparts to translate two prompts. This was helpful because this competition entails grades 6-12, University students grade 1-4 and young professionals. The certificates were all made by another PCV volunteer, and he also eventually created the Write on Competition Logo that will be used from now on for the write on competition! The competition itself had three levels. The Aimag level-coordinated by aimag pcv's...the winners essays then continued to the national level where a group of us chose first place from each grade to be sent onto the international coordinators. While Mongolia did not win at the international level, it was still fantastic that there were so many participants 1,180. 
The competition itself finished early March. Since then I have been retrieving receipts, writing up the completion report and working with Peace Corps on the final report. As of last week, I finished it. It was by far one of the hardest projects I have coordinated simply because of the grant, however it was very beneficial because before the project I had no idea how to coordinate a grant. I am pleased that I now have this skill under my belt!

SPeCIaL OlYmPiCS ArkHanGai!

It has been months...literally months. So i guess I have to backtrack a bit before discussing the current.

DeCeMbEr
I had a special Olympics and it was small but wonderful..It happened in December and 11 athletes attended. Volunteers from the teachers college and the social work college helped with the activities. It was just lovely. The day before the competition, we had a health training that taught athletes and parents healthy eating and stretching skills. The children seemed to have a great time and I think the parents were pleased as well. Special Olympics Mongolia provided funding for the metals, and FLOM provided funding for lunch and snacks during the trainings. The local bed and breakfast Fairfields donated sandwiches and soups for the event as well.
Like most activities it was not completely smooth sailing. We got to the gym and it was being used for vollyball. My CP had double booked with the school director so I was anxious that it would not work out. Thanks to fairfield staff, they talked to the team and explained that they would not play and that this event was for children with disabilities. After going back and forth we were told we could use the gym for an hour and a half. We finished the jumping portion and the shotput portion (with a regular soft dodge ball) in the music gym. After athletes received their medals for first second and third place, hugs were given all around. It was so amazing to see how happy parents and children were alike.
While coordinating a project can be difficult at times, when it is completed and is successful it feels wonderful.  If there were no barriers in place and everything was simple and easy going it would be difficult to be as excited at the conclusion of it's success!

Initial meeting with the social workers. I brought in  the athletes that had gone to Special Olympics Mongolia to discuss their experiences.

Students Learning about Healthy foods

Students learning how to stretch before working out!

Competition day!

SpEciAl OlYMpiCs-ThE TriALs and TriBuLaTiOnS!

I was first introduced to the idea of Special Olympics last year, after swearing in and before I went to Thailand. Since then, I had many meetings to discuss the subject with a now Volunteer at the organization. I continually felt like I had similar conversations about it over and over and over again. Since things tend to happen so late and then so all at once or not at all, I spent a long time waiting. This past March, I was contacted to see if I would be able to send coaches from Arkhangai to a training in UB so we could participate in the Special Olympics should it happen. I didn't know if it would happen but I thought it would be great to start building knowledge about the Special Olympics in case it did. When the training didn't happen in April, and was told it might happen in May, I was a tad discouraged.  I was set on it not happening at all. However when May came I put a team together in four days and had them go to UB for the training. It was exciting that it happened and I was so happy that at least a foundation had been laid to open up the conversation for disabilities. Since, this was also around the time that school was ending, I was waiting for the training to be forgotten...and quite frankly for me to be forgotten in my Aimag since I would be working at camps away for most of my summer. I was pleasantly surprised when I wasn't forgotten, at all.

Soon after I got back to Tsetserleg I was told that there would be Special Olympics games in UB, and I had about three weeks to get everything together. My counterpart and I spent the next few days running around like chickens with our heads cut off finding children that this competition specifically caters whose parents would let them participate. Then, we had to set up trainings and complete packets on the athletes, along with a medical check. We got everything done a week and a half before we were supposed to leave.  When athletes were medically cleared and had filled out their paperwork we had three practices before the start of the next week.  This being Mongolia, things changed and flip-flopped, and changed again. The week before we were supposed to leave for the competition, teachers from the 5 schools that would be competing met with Special Olympics director, and the dates were changed again...and we would need to leave Arkhangai to make the 8-10 hour trek into UB that Wednesday. After two days of running around, we had one more practice, then off we went. That night we arrived around 6 and I was beat, and could not wait to just relax with a bubble bath and glass of wine, but i was also amazed that despite it all, I was here, in UB, with three athletes, a parent and a mother of the one of the athletes.
 

A Mongolian Celebrity. She won the Special Olympics Snowshoeing competition in China (I believe)

My Director came and some admin staff came out to support the cause

The next day the competition started around 12. I was to meet my team at the hostel around 11. Previous to arriving, one of the Volunteers had called me to let me know that my team was not only up, fed, dressed and ready to go, but they were also stretching. The excitement was palpable.
We arrived around the same time as everyone else. We signed in, received our shirts ate and my athletes started running to warm up. It was a mild day at first that got colder as the competition progressed. I was completely thrilled with my students. They were happy, easy going and had so much fun, it was a joy to see and a surreal moment for me.
While the Athletes returned the Arkhangai the next day, I stayed to help with the remaining events (judo and table tennis) which would be happening the following week.

At the conclusion of Mongolia's VERY FIRST Special Olympics, one of my Athletes had won a second place medal for her run in the 50 meter and was asked to go to the International Special Olympics competition that would be happening in Los Angelas. I couldn't tell you how happy it made me to see her face, and her mother's face when I told them.  It was a feeling unlike any other. Her incredibly supportive mother didn't miss a beat before saying of course!
Since the Olympics, I am still working on collaborating with the special olympics to get them papers or information they may need for Davaa's adventure. I am also coordinating a Special Olympics of my own, in fact, I was able to do a training on Wednesday about it. Tsetserlegs Social Workers attended, as well as a Special Education teacher, two of my athletes that went to UB, and another child who has a disability was brought by her mother. It's amazing to see the out-pour of support that is starting to happen for those who have a disability. Next week, we will be having a meeting on Thursday with athletes and doctors as well. Between The Mongolian Special Olympics, Arkhangai Special Olympics and Davaa's invitation to the International Special Olympics; I feel like understanding of disabilities in Mongolia are being put on the forefront in an extremely positive light. In a Country where abnormalities are hidden away and not widely accepted, I am thrilled that I can be a small part of the change that is slowly but surely coming.