Special Olympics Goes to the Outer Fringes of the World: Bringing hope to a refugee camp by Christine Parker Hunt By the end of 2005, Special Olympics Nepal had reached out to 500 athletes — mainly through interviewing family members. [Photos courtesy Special Olympics Asia Pacific] For some Special Olympics Programs around the world, it's an uphill battle to survive, let alone grow. Special Olympics Nepal is one of those Programs. Political upheaval and citywide curfews prevent many Special Olympics activities from being held on a regular basis. Also, volunteers do not feel safe enough to actively recruit new athletes in the customary way of going door-to-door, so the Program had to find another way to reach athletes. They had to focus on a safe location for athletes to train and compete. Despite the difficulties, Special Olympics Nepal diligently reaches out to people with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics Nepal Program leader Pandit Sarbeswori suggested an innovative approach, which was to cultivate a program in Jhapa, a Bhutanese refugee camp in the northeastern end of Nepal, near Bhutan. It was a safe option. The camp, established in the early 1990s, housed an estimated 100,000 people, with whole communities of children growing up there. There would be at least 1,000 people with intellectual disabilities. The living conditions were abysmal: most families lived in a 10-foot by 10-foot house with no electricity, phones or running water, and they were restricted to the camp’s boundaries. Although these people were from Bhutan, they spoke Nepalese. A Bhutanese refugee camp in the northeastern end of Nepal, near Bhutan has provided a safe option for Special Olympics Nepal to reach more athletes and support family members. Without electronic communication, reaching prospective athletes and coaches in Jhapa was a time-consuming, labor-intensive process. However, by the end of 2005, Special Olympics Nepal had recruited 500 athletes. Families, it was discovered, were the key to reaching new athletes. Forty coaches were recruited and, along with additional volunteers, attended training programs. In 2005, athletes competed for the first time in their lives in athletics and football (soccer). In 2006, Special Olympics Nepal plans to introduce bocce and cricket. For a Special Olympics Program trying diligently to reach out to people with intellectual disabilities amid an atmosphere of strife and insecurity, Nepal succeeded in overcoming the odds to provide a ray of hope to those Bhutanese athletes who are confined to their refugee camp indefinitely Return to main Celebrating Growth page Christine Parker Hunt is Organizational Development Director for Special Olympics