This quartet almost lost their golden ticket to the represent India at the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2011 at Athens, because their passports were delayed
This quartet almost lost their golden ticket to the represent India at the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2011 at Athens, because their passports were delayed.
Thanks to MiD DAY's intervention, they barely managed to reach the competition on time.
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(From top to bottom) Kavita, Heena, Meri and Sakhu are all-smiles as
they pose with their medals that they won at the Special Olympics
Once they reached, however, they were unstoppable, putting up an outstanding performance that drew a seven-medal haul, two of which were gold medals.
The Games were held at Athens between June 25 and July 4. MiD DAY carried a report in its March 9 edition, (City girls may miss special Olympics) highlighting their plight following the failure of the Regional Passport office to deliver their passports on time. Following the report, however, the passports were delivered them in 48 hours.
Of the seven-medal haul, badminton player Sakhu Nagarkar alone won two golds, and a silver medal, bagging the gold medals in both the singles and doubles categories.
Cycling champion Meri Manda bagged a silver and bronze medal each, in two cycling events. In team events, the Indian handball team member Kavita, and volleyball team member Heena bagged a bronze medal each.
Manasi Sawant, special instructor and coach, who accompanied the girls to Athens, said, "Team India had participated in 13 events. These four girls from the Children's Home in Mankhurd represented India in four events. Each of them won medals."
According to Navnath Shinde, chief officer of the government-aided organisation Children's Aid Society said, "These girls have made the whole country proud. This was a life-changing experience for them.
Some of them are orphaned, while others are mentally challenged, and have no one in the world except the staff members at their home."
It was an emotionally charged moment when the quartet returned from foreign shores on Wednesday, touching down at the Chhatrapti Shivaji International Airport. "The girls were in tears when they saw their teachers, who had come to receive them.
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Sakhu and her friends abandoned their trolleys, and embraced their instructors, displaying their medals proudly all the while," said Anil Gite, superintendent of the Childrens' Home.
Gite thanked MiD DAY for having played a crucial role in ensuring that the girls reached Athens in the nick of time. He said, "If MiD DAY had not supported these girls, they would never have made it."
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The Children's Aid Society runs a home for mentally deficient children at Mankhurd. It is the country's first institution for mentally challenged children, and was established in 1941.
'Pitruvatsalya,' the special section earmarked for mentally challenged girls, was inaugurated by Mother Teresa in 1977.
The home caters to the needs of 300 mentally challenged children till upto 18 years of age. It provides care and protection and special education to the kids.
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