PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED children flew high in ‘Udaan’ 2007 held under the auspices of The Catholic Diocese of Lucknow and The Diocesan Social Work Society, Lucknow. It was a mini special Olympics in the age group of six and above from all over Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand for the differently abled children on 1st and 2nd December at AMC Stadium, Lucknow. The chief guest at the inaugural function of the sports competition was Lt Gen OP Nandrajog, AVSM, VSM, ADC, general officer commanding in chief, Central Command Lucknow and Fr Lancy Lobo, the Diocesan Administrator was the guest of honour. The two days were full of excitement and fun as nearly 1000 odd differently abled children, who participated in various activities with enthusiasm.

 

It was heartening to see Indu, a physically challenged girl throwing a ball in one such competition. Though partially blind, she had all the inkling to throw the ball in the right direction. Ajay in tricycle and Madhuri in wheelchair proved their strength. The same was true of every participant, be it the winner of loser. The competitions conducted were bun-biting, balloon bursting, standing long jump, softball throw, medicine ball throw, 100 metre race, 200 metre race and various other activities for physically and mentally challenged children.

 

The objective of the event was to sensitise the people about giving importance to differently abled children and bring them to the main stream of the society by identifying their latent skills through sports and cultural activities. Such events assume importance against the backdrop of the fact that there are 70 million disabled in India and only 2 per cent are educated and 1 per cent employed. There has been a systematic neglect of the disabled people in the country, be it in the area of education or employment. The society’s negative attitude harms such persons. Events like these can help change the attitude. Through sports and similar activities, awareness about their potentialities can be in increased.

 

To prove that these children are not only good at games but also in cultural activities, a beautiful cultural show was put up by these children on Saturday. The chief guest for the programme was Lalji Verma, minister of Health and Physically Challenged children. Speaking on the occasion he said, “Every individual is a gift of God and hence we have to respect each and every individual even if they physically disabled.” The two-day programme came to an end with prize distribution by Dr Dinesh Sharma, the Mayor of Lucknow. Fr Gerald D’Souza who worked hard behind the scene to make this programme a success, thanked everybody who toiled hard to enable these children have the desire to fly high.