No Barriers: Guest Submission from Che Ni, Special Olympics East Asia Youth Leader

I have been a volunteer for Special Olympics since 2015. I organized and participated in the first Unified School program in November 2016. The first athlete I worked with was an extremely shy little boy, and as a newcomer to Special Olympics, it was initially difficult to make friends with him. But after a variety of inclusive activities, he held my hand tightly and never let go. Ever since I have been fascinated by the work and effect Special Olympics has.

In May 2017 I had the honor of attending the Special Olympics East Asia Inclusive Youth Leadership Training Camp on behalf of my school. Through this trip I met a young boy named Weile, who would turn out to be a life-long friend. During the arts portion of the camp when we were designing shirts, Weile wrote a sentence on his T-shirt that said “Che Ni is a good sister”. After the three day camp, we kept in touch and shared our life stories with each other. In addition to making new friends, what Special Olympics is really about is trying to make our society more inclusive.

Last month, as a youth partner and as Weile’s friend, I participated in 2017 Special Olympics Global Unified Schools Youth Exchange in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. We took this time, to consciously exercise Weile’s independence. When we got our boarding passes we taught Weile how to find the gate. As we came back, Weile acted as our guide and took us to the right gate. During our week’s journey, he was happy to step up and look after us. He was excited and courageous to try something he has never done before.

Through such meaningful and colorful activities, he had changed so dramatically that we were amazed at his growth. He prepared small gifts for me and our peer teacher, he offered to help us with our luggage, he reminded us to keep warm, we were all moved and thankful for his attentiveness and consideration. Another great change was that he started opening up to others, like teaching his friend who is from North Carolina how to say his Chinese name and how to use sign language, teaching him how to say “I love you.” Which he later proudly shared with me.

The confidence and dream that sports bring to Special Olympic athletes truly shocked me. Take Weile for example, in basketball he made a beautiful shot, and jumped three feet high in celebration. So did the crowd, the joy of success infects everyone.

Nowadays, too many factors affect our lives. There are some obstacles that need to be overcome before we can make a decision, such as money, family, ability and so on. But not to Weile as he simply answered without hesitation “No barriers.” As I introduced Weile to my friends, they were amazed that he was just the same as us.

I realize that it’s our inclusive young leaders’ obligation to influence more people to join the Special Olympics through our efforts. We can and should do our utmost to convey the inclusive concept of the Special Olympics to everyone. SO athletes each have their own unique sparkles, some have been revealed, while some are waiting for our discovery. All they need is a chance to reach out to society. Let us help them do it.

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