For those of us who didn't know about it a few years ago, Special Olympics is an international program of athletic training and competition for young people and adults with intellectual disabilities. Its goal is to help these athletes find their place in society through sport.
We first encountered Special Olympics athletes in 2004, when we opened our holiday village in Calabria. At the suggestion of the organization's president, Dr. Federico Vicentini, we invited a delegation of athletes and their families for a day of fellowship and golf.
At first, we had some hesitation about you. The initial impact was a little difficult. You are fantastic people, and now we're not always sure who among us is the more fragile.
The experience with these young people from all over Italy was exhilarating.
I had never spent any real time with people who were "mentally differently able" (but different from whom?). My husband and I were deeply moved by these athletes—by their spontaneity, their warmth, their joy, their generosity of spirit, and their dedication and passion for sport.
Life is a path full of obstacles, but also of experiences that help us grow and mature. Thank you for the lesson you taught us. We will carry it with us always.
Thank you for helping us remove our "masks" during these days, and for taking us by the hand to help us cross over the barriers.
The motto sworn by every Special Olympics athlete is: "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."
What better lesson could there be for all of us and our children?
We came to understand that "difference" exists only for those who don't know it, and that getting to know one another enriched us immensely.
It is ignorance (from "to ignore") that builds mental barriers, hard to overcome.
That's how the Youth Project was born: to bring together for a week, in our village, non-disabled students from a classical high school in Rome and another in Cassano allo Ionio—along with our special athletes. They shared sports, football and volleyball tournaments, and games together. The goal was not just integration but awareness and understanding: to help our young people grasp the reality of disability.
I was afraid I'd feel awkward and wouldn't know how to act. You're like us, but so much more sensitive and affectionate. I never imagined I'd come face to face with a reality so different from what I had pictured. To us, you were truly special.
Thanks also to Dr. Anna Casolaro and the cultural heritage team at the Sibari Museum, we organized a cross-country race through the beautiful grounds of the archaeological site, and a mock excavation with guided tours of the Archaeological Museum of Sibaritide. All the young people embraced these activities with enthusiasm.
What emerged was an extraordinary outpouring of emotion that gave birth to new friendships and unexpected feelings.
The beauty of life lies in engaging with others without excluding anyone, even out of fear.
Difference should not frighten us. Meeting others changes us and teaches us to appreciate what each of us has been given. In the photographs from the first day, you could see hesitation and wariness in these same young people—a sense that they were supposed to be there. But in the photos from the days that followed, they played, danced, and sang together with the same natural joy and enthusiasm, as if they'd always known each other. By the end of the week, they were exchanging addresses, phone numbers, tears, and embraces, promising to see each other again.
The comments the young people wrote at week's end, collected in a small journal, proved this was an experience worth repeating—and with many more young people. Because they are the ones who teach us that diversity can only enrich life, in this world where everything is different from everything.
Our aim is to develop this into a pilot project that can be brought to more schools as a socio-cultural program recognized by the Ministry of Education.
I don't know if we'll succeed, but we're going to try.
Gabriella and Luigi Sauvé, with the thoughts of the young people who participated www.specialolympics.it