Romanian visit to Iceland

Between October 19 and 25, three specialists from Special Olympics Romania Foundation and three university professors travelled to Iceland for a best practices exchange regarding sports for persons with intellectual disabilities.

The Romanian delegation was hosted in Reykjavik by the Special Olympics Iceland director, Mrs. Anna Karólína Vilhjálmsdóttir. The activity took place within the “Motor abilities development project for Down Syndrome individuals – essential step towards an independent life” project, financed through the SEE 2009¬2014 grants, under the ONG Romanian Fund.

The schedule included visits of the Romanian specialists to several sports halls to see the way children and adults with intellectual disabilities train in skating, swimming and artistic gymnastics. They met the coaches and participated in a round table organized at the University of Reykjavik.

The goal of the project is to create and implement a “Timely Propelling Initiation” in the case of a group of children with Down Syndrome. The aim is to increase the level of social interaction, which would lead to the acquiring of independent living abilities through a system of trainings and unified sports competition events dedicated to children and teenagers with or without Down Syndrome.

The direct target group of the project consists:
– 160 children with Down Syndrome, aged 2 to 8;
– 190 children, teenagers and young adults with Down Syndrome, aged 8 to 25;
– 190 children, teenagers and young adults without disabilities, aged 8 to 25;
The project’s activities are to be implemented in seven cities: Bucharest, Bacau, Brașov, Cluj, Craiova, Iași, Târgoviște and in the Jiu Valley area, between the 1st of April 2014 and 31st March 2016.

This projects is implemented by Special Olympics Romanias, in partnership with the National Physical Education and Sports University of Bucharest, in cooperation with Special Olympics Iceland.
For additional official information regarding the SEE and Norwegian grants please visit www.eeagrants.org.