BRAZIL-US/OLYMPICS U.S. ambassador to Brazil helps launch sports programme for people with disabilities in Brazil

Record ID: 332383

  • Title: BRAZIL-US/OLYMPICS U.S. ambassador to Brazil helps launch sports programme for people with disabilities in Brazil
  • Date: 18th March 2015
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF AYALDE AT EVENT
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAD3ARVHUP0MYTIWE63WBVYV529
  • Story Text: The United States mission to Brazil and U.S. NGO BlazeSports International launched a project to encourage people with disabilities to get involved in sports in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday (March 18).
    The United States Ambassador to Brazil Liliana Ayalde took part in the launching of the programme known as "Sports For All": Empowering People with Disabilities to Lead an Active Lifestyle" at the Deodoro Sports Complex in Rio which will be used in the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio.
    Ayalde played a seated bocce ball-type game with some of the beneficiaries of the programme.
    "We celebrate this partnership today with Brazilians to be able to join in and give these young adults and children training and information about using sports and overcoming their obstacles," Ayalde said.
    The "Sports For All" project in Brazil is a two-year programme with the stated goal of "improving the health and quality of life of Brazilians with disabilities through participation in sport and physical activity."
    The project , which was initiated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will directly benefit 300 Brazilians in Rio, Sao Paulo and Brasilia.
    Brazilian Paralympic athlete, Anderson Dias, who is blind and plays 5-man soccer, helped Ayalde score a goal while wearing a blindfold.
    Dias said the programme will help encourage people with disabilities to go out in the world and better themselves.
    "This is fantastic because a lot of people with disabilities don't get the opportunity to leave their homes and play a sport. And this won't make them an athlete, but a citizen that can find a job afterward," Dias said.
    BlazeSports International is the legacy project born out of the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta.
    The non-profit aims to help people with disabilities through their involvement in sports.
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