Special Olympics Summer Camp Fosters Community Spirit in Belmopan

The 2024 Special Olympics Summer Camp was hosted in the City of Belmopan this month. Every Saturday, the participants went out to different locations where they played games and took part in different activities. Pauline Soberanis-Tillett, chairperson for the Belmopan Special Olympics, spoke to Love News about the event’s ability to foster a sense of community and belonging among participants.

Pauline Soberanis Tillet, Special Olympics Committee Belmopan Head: “We know that children with disabilities you know they tend to or their parents tend to not bring them out and you know have them enjoying themselves so we decided that one Saturday per month we will bring them out at a location not be announced and we will have games with them. We have volunteers that are ready to come on board and play games with them, basketball, bungee and all the rest of activities so that they can get exercise and we also want to well what we’re trying to do is to get them prepared for Special Olympics Belize. We know that every year the Special Olympics team takes kids out and so we want to get our kids, Belmopan prepared so that we can have representation as well.”
The event saw participation from persons aged 5-52 and saw support from the Belmopan City councilors. Soberanis-Tillet elaborated on the contingency plan of the initiative.

Pauline Soberanis Tillet, Special Olympics Committee Belmopan Head:  “For the Belmopan Special Olympics I am the chairperson so my role is to make sure that activities happen for them, for children with special needs. Activities happen for them, plan games, plan everything for them and we also have a committee that we work together and plan and make sure things happen for the kids. As you notice our youngest participant today was five years old and our oldest participant was fifty two years old. So we were amazed when all of them get together and you can see the joy, you can see them doing exercise, you can see them just being happy and that is something that gave us great joy and that is the reason we planned that every Saturday, one Saturday per month we will bring them together and just let them have fun together.”

The initiative empowers participants by giving them confidence and fostering a culture of inclusion and acceptance.