Photos: (top left) Ahmed Touqan (YES 2011-2012) warming up with the group; (bottom right) Dalia Showmali (YES 2014-2015) playing darts with a student with special needs. 

The YES alumni network in the West Bank believes that working with people with special needs will inspire us to be special people ourselves. That is why the YES alumni held a sports activity for people with special needs on January 21, 2017 at the Epsa Sports Center.

Twelve Palestinian YES alumni volunteered in this mini Special Olympics in Ramallah. The event was created in coordination with the Special Olympics Committee of Palestine and the Palestinian Ministry of Youth and Sports. Professional Olympic trainers volunteered to help lead the event. Around 50 people with special needs participated and enjoyed the activities of the day. They came from three different local organizations that work with people with disabilities: Star Mountain Rehabilitation Center, Al-Nahda Organization, and Al Haya Réhabilitation Center.

Photos: (top) Ahmed Ladadweh (YES 2012-2013) and Dalia Showmali (YES 2014-2015) posing with a participant; (Bottom right) Lana Alkhmour (YES 2014-2015) posing with a participant.

The day started with some warm-up exercises, and then participants and volunteers were separated into teams. Teams moved around stations to play games including volleyball, badminton, darts, track, bocce ball, parachute and table tennis.

At the end of the sports day, each participant received a gold medal to honor their participation, as each one of them truly was a winner.

Photos: (bottom left) Dawoud Zahran (YES 2011-2012) warming up with the group. 

You can watch a video of the event, produced by one of the YES alumni volunteers!