Doha: Best Buddies Initiative Qatar, a non-profitable NGO under the umbrella of Qatar Foundation for Social Work, has organised a social sports festival at Dahl Al Hamam Park with the aim of promoting the values of social inclusion, and improving the quality of life of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Qatar through sports, in addition to activating the role of parents, and the various social groups as active partners in the integration process.
The Initiative’s partners, as well as the parents of persons with disabilities, and the attendants of Dahl Al Hamam Park participated in the festival, which was held under the slogan of “ You are my partner”
The Executive Director of Best Buddies Qatar, Laalei Abu Alfain, said that, the establishment of the social sports integration festival by the initiative comes within the framework of the firm belief that social sports integration is a right of persons with disabilities as active members of society, and as an integral part of it.
She explained that the idea of integrating people with intellectual disabilities, and their families into one team in an open and distinctive place such as Dahl Al Hamam Park was the result of an integrated project of the idea of social sports integration, which the initiative has been working on for some time through scientifically and effectively selected games and sports activities for people with disabilities in order to enable them to form continuous bilateral friendships between people with disabilities on one hand , and healthy peers on the other, because of the ability of sport to achieve real communication and integration without barriers.
The Executive Director of Best Buddies Qatar added that sports contribute to raising the capacity of people with disabilities, and that the organization of such sporting events contributes to breaking barriers and speeds social communication.
She stressed that the integration of sports in societies has become a civil demand, as it can remove barriers and differences between the people, and through it the initiative’s vision and objectives are realized.
Abu Alfain thanked the Ministry of Municipality and Environment for hosting the event in Dahl Al Hamam Park, as well as the Qatar Diabetes Association, for their contribution to health education. She also valued the effective participation of families and parents of disabled people, and their attention to social communication with their children in order to achieve sports integration, and participation in such targeted festivals.
