The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : `Olympics of abilities' is a talent search

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 25, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`Olympics of abilities' is a talent search

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, NOV. 24. Disabled people in rural areas will soon get a chance to prove their mettle at the district-level `Abilympics,' with non-governmental organisations calling for entries to `Olympics of abilities' in mid-2005.

The NGOs behind the initiativeinclude Amar Seva Sangam in Tirunelveli district, Thirumalai Charity Trust at Ranipet, Society for the Aid of Handicapped Children in Coimbatore and Vidya Sagar in Chennai.

"People need to be motivated to come forward and participate in the rural areas," said S. Sankar Raman, Secretary, Amar Seva Sangam.

"Abilympics is not a sports event," said Poonam Natarajan, director, Vidya Sagar, and coordinator for Tamil Nadu and Kerala. "It is basically about vocational skills and aims to make disabled people more employable," she explained. Contrary to popular perception, it is only for adults above 15 years, she added.

This is an opportunity for NGOs working with the disabled to network and for the disabled to showcase their skills to industry.

Winners at the district level will participate in the zonal competition next November. Zonal winners will go to the national Abilympics in 2006 and the winners there could end up representing the country at an international competition to be held in Shizuoka, Japan in 2007.

"We are hoping to reach out to the disabled who are not associated with NGOs," said Bhooma Parthasarathy, director of Thirumalai Charity Trust.

Events range from carpentry to chess and include vocational, leisure and living skills.

"This is a talent search. If we find talented people in traditional crafts, for instance, we want to introduce suitable events at the national level," said Ms. Natarajan.

The international Abilympics was first held in Tokyoin 1981 to mark the United Nations International year of the disabled.

New Delhi hosted the event's sixth version in November 2003.

For details, contact Thirumalai Charity Trust at 04172-247950, Amar Seva Sangam at 04633-267170 or the Society for the Aid of Handicapped Children at 044-22441902.

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