The 10 week long Eunice Kennedy Shriver Fellowship program which commenced from 12th June and culminated on 22nd August served as a unique professional development opportunity for mid career individuals from Russia, Pakistan, India, South Africa and Kenya interested in NGO efforts benefitting people with intellectual disabilities. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of State through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs under the authority of the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, as amended.
EKS fellowship program is named after a great woman who shared one vision; to better the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Eunice Kennedy Shriver started a movement which stands proud today as Special Olympics reaching out to 181 countries with more than three million athletes training year round in numerous sports activities. Eunice born into wealth and power, the middle child of nine in United States most powerful family chose to lobby for the powerless and used all her connections to help those who were invisible or perceived to be an embarrassment by the society and world at large. She strived to break the social isolation of people with intellectual disabilities through sports. The results of her efforts speak volumes for themselves as evident through Special Olympics world games and numerous games and competitions held around the world. Her mission to create strong advocates of people with intellectual disabilities continues in form of the EKS Fellowship program. These year five dynamic individuals out of 40 applicants were selected to participate after going through a rigorous selection process.
The EKS fellow from Pakistan, Ms. Sarah Alam (Managing Director Young Social Reformers & SO Get Into It Program Coordinator Special Olympics Pakistan) has returned back home after successful completion of the program. EKS turned out to be not only instrumental in terms of learning but also served as an opportunity for her to get to know of the struggle and dedication of Mrs. Shriver to reach out to people with intellectual disabilities. During the ten weeks that Ms. Alam spent in U.S. attending the EKS program she was greatly involved in various meaningful activities and trainings carried out by Special Olympics International and its partner organizations which included Gallup, University of Massachusetts, Harvard Law School and NIH.
Ms. Alam along with other fellows got the opportunity to be exposed to information about best practices in disability services and supports, programs and policies, sports management and NGO administration. The ten weeks were well divided into rotational training programs which included orientation on culture matters, Special Olympics history as well as organizational structure and various departments, overview of state of people with ID, cross sector collaborations in the developing world with reference to partnerships between SOI with UNICEF& Lions Clubs International, Communications training with a field visit to Voice of America, history of Intellectual disabilities around the world by Gary Siperstein at UMASS Boston, Program Evaluation & Research at Center for Research & Development UMASS Boston, proposal writing,
policy planning, inclusion, Disabilities and Human Rights as well as UN Convention on Human Rights by Michael Stein at Harvard Law School, Sports Management, Gallup Leadership Training, learning about NIH, U.S. Policy making process, working with coalitions and governments, fund raising, partnering with corporate sponsors & donors, grant writing, Health promotions and US Health care delivery system.
Besides the extensive trainings from SOI and partner organizations in Washington DC and Boston the fellows were also placed with Special Olympics State Programs for four weeks in different states across United States to observe and learn how to run Special Olympics programs successfully back in their countries. During these four weeks the fellows were exposed to various outreach programs, fund raisers, event management, communications and public relations, volunteer recruitments, state games and many other exciting activities that were cadre of information and hands on experience for the fellows.
Ms. Alam had the privilege to be placed with Special Olympics Louisiana where she got a chance to experience the Southern hospitality. During her stay in United States Ms. Alam besides getting to know the stars of the Kennedy family had a chance to meet the highly captivating Governor of Louisiana Mr. Bobby Jindal, Congressman Litham, 1st Secretary of Pakistan Embassy Ms. Mumtaz Baloch and several officials from ECA and State Alumni. However the end of EKS Fellowship program also marked the death of Mrs. Shriver (11th August 2009) bringing the fellows more closely to the legacy of Mrs. Shriver which will be carried forward through Special Olympics Movement and the fellows as torch bearers.
Ms. Alam as an EKS fellow is highly honored to carry the name of an aspiring lady who rekindled the light in the lives of many people around the world. EKS program to her is without any doubt a life changing experience and a new ray of hope and dimension that she sees to continue forward with.
The wealth of information Ms. Alam has brought back to the country will be used effectively by her in form of a fellowship project called Buddy Support Program in Pakistan which will focus on providing more structured service learning opportunities to mainstream youth by enabling them to interact with young people having intellectual disabilities and be able to learn to respect their differences.
