Disabled young person to South Africa - 2010
Michael Athanaselis, a disabled youngster from West Lothian,
Scotland is seeking to travel to South Africa in February 2010 to
help develop his leadership skills. Michael is 15 years-old, and
has been registered disabled since he was four. He suffers from a
range of disabilities, but this has not stopped him from taking on
new challenges.
Michael is undertaking a course in Sport & Recreation and
working towards a Sports Leaders Award at Inveralmond Community
High School, in Ladywell, Livingston. The school has a partnership
with Osizweni Special School in Mpumalanga, South Africa through
the British Council's Dreams & Teams programme. This programme is
based on developing young leaders in both schools and their
respective communities and Michael is part of a group of
Inveralmond students who are travelling to South Africa to work
alongside South African staff and young leaders, planning and
delivering sporting activities culminating in a sports festival at
the school.
Michael has been awarded £250 by the JWCT to help him achieve
his dream. His teacher, Zoe Forrest, explained “the benefits . . .
to Michael are immeasurable - he is already growing in confidence
through the leadership work he has done in school and working with
local primary and special needs students. He is developing greater
independence which is particularly significant for Michael . . .
This experience will serve [him] greatly when it comes to
applications for college and jobs in later life – [he is]
developing skills which are transferable in any walk of life and
will be able to talk about [his] experiences of building these
skills in a cross-cultural setting.”
Michael has also undertaken some of his own fundraising,
including completing a 5km fun run and supporting a range of
school and community events.
April 2010
Michael’s mother Lila sent the
following update:
“Michael went to South Africa
with the Dreams & Teams scheme run by the British Council. He firstly
went to a conference with other school teachers and children studying
sports leadership and was helped along with three other children who
went on the trip to read a presentation about his course and what it
involves. After this weekend they were taken to their base where they
visited the special school in Mbumbalanga; they helped the children
in their school work, planned a sport festival and got involved in all
sports there everyday. This helped build Michael's confidence and gave
him ideas for what he wanted to study when he leaves school involving
sports and travel. After this week, the group had a weekend at Kruger
National Park. The last week was spent again at the special school and
at a nearby high school where more of the same work took place regarding
sports and planning. I cannot thank you enough for helping in Michael's
trip, it helped pay for his accommodation for the different places Michael
had to stay at during his stay.”
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