A group of young people are currently in a workshop to discuss arrangements for the country's first ever sports carnival for people with disabilities in Honiara.
The AusAID-funded workshop was organised by the Health Division Organising Committee and the Community Based Rehabilitation Program (CBR) of the Honiara City Council.As part of the workshop, participants will help identify persons with disability in their community to participate in the upcoming sports carnival.
"We want to involve youths to form a community work group, and this group will go out to communities to register those with disabilities to start training for the disability carnival," the Honiara Sports for Person with Disability Chairperson, Ms. Cyrene Aonina, told Solomon Times.
She adds that their main focus is to encourage the participation of people, especially youths, from all the communities in and around town, which will help contribute to people with disability in their upcoming carnival.
"The main reason for the games is so that people with disability get to have the feeling which normal people have in their everyday living, and one is being a sportsperson," Ms. Aonina said.
She states that it is important to train people with disability "because with this, they can identify their own skills and put into practice to perfect it."
"Eventually, they will build on the skills, make their own money, adapt easily and be self-reliant," Ms. Aonina adds.
"The games will be mainly indoor sports, with equipment to be used throughout the carnival to be sent from the Paralympics Committee in Sydney," she said.
"This is going to be an ongoing program with funding coming in every year, and we hope that this first trial will be successful for more to come in later years," Ms. Aonina said.