Particular Olympics Unified with Refugees Senior Advisor Gerald Mballe travelled to Madrid, Spain, on 13 – 14 December to go to a refugee reception heart and a neighborhood faculty, and foster connections between refugees, folks with mental disabilities and their host communities.
The journey started at Centro de Acogida de Protección Internacional (CAPI – Worldwide Safety Reception Heart) Alcobendas, the place Mballe delivered a heartfelt deal with to the employees and refugees, highlighting the worldwide mission and vital affect of the Unified with Refugees program.
Launched in 2016 with the help of the United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Lions Golf equipment Worldwide Basis (LCIF), the initiative has reached over 10,000 refugee youth, providing alternatives for integration, empowerment, and social connection. ESPN and sportswear firm ON, by means of its social affect programme ‘Proper To Run’, have additionally supported Unified with Refugees.
Mballe stated: “The mission of Unified with Refugees is straightforward but highly effective: to create alternatives for refugees and folks with mental disabilities by means of sports activities.”
Gerald Mballe, Particular Olympics Unified with Refugees Senior Advisor
“Since its inception, we’ve seen first-hand how this programme has remodeled lives by breaking down limitations and constructing lasting relationships.”
The next day, Mballe attended a Unified sports activities occasion at Colegio Areteia in Madrid. Unified basketball and soccer matches had been held bringing collectively college students, Particular Olympics athletes, and refugees. Unified Sports activities pairs people with and with out mental disabilities on the identical groups, fostering mutual understanding, respect, and teamwork.
Mballe, a former refugee himself, mirrored on the facility of those occasions: “Sports activities have the distinctive means to bridge divides and unite folks from all walks of life. By the Particular Olympics Unified with Refugees programme, we’ve created areas the place refugees and folks with mental disabilities can be taught from one another and expertise the enjoyment of enjoying collectively.”
“These occasions in Madrid had been a testomony to the energy of range and the potential for communities to develop by means of sports activities and inclusion. I wish to lengthen my deepest gratitude to CAPI Alcobendas and to Colegio Areteia for internet hosting such partaking and impactful occasions, that are serving to to advertise understanding and encourage constructive change in our communities.”
Unified with Refugees, energetic in 15 nations together with Spain, Italy, Kenya, and Thailand, has been instrumental in empowering two of the world’s most marginalized populations, offering platforms for them to excel and belong.
