Hanna Atkinson SSIGM Blog #1: My Experience at World Games

Day One

It was a great first day in Abu Dhabi! I really enjoyed the sunrise and the breakfast tasted awesome! The hotel we are staying in is beautiful inside and out. My first duty as a Sargent Shriver International Global Messenger (SSIGM) at World Games called for Opening Ceremony rehearsal. I am number seven in the order of SSIGMs standing on stage during speeches, including one by the Chairman of Special Olympics Tim Shriver, who I highly admire. After rehearsal, I was able to take a nice photo with Olympic medalist and Special Olympics Global Ambassador Apolo Ohno. To end my day, I went to Healthy Athletes and surveyed athletes after their screenings, recording a lot of terrific results!

Day Two

It is the second day here in Abu Dhabi! To start off the day, I worked out at the gym at our hotel and worked out next to my new friend, Apolo Ohno! Pretty sure we were competing against each other, and definitely sure I won! One of many highlights of today was enjoying the Special Olympics USA vs Kenya football (soccer) match with Mrs. Pence, the Second Lady of the USA, who is down to earth and really sweet. Next, I did my remarks at the Healthy Athletes ribbon cutting ceremony and cut the ribbon with huge scissors, which was my favorite part! Then we got to go to the palace and I held a hawk which was outstanding. It took my breath away! The royal family is really kind and all of the speakers did a wonderful job. Dinner tasted terrific and I ended my day by taking time to look at the water from my hotel room, which was a great way to calm down.

Day Three

Wow — today was a long day! We had two rehearsals for the Coca-Cola luncheon for tomorrow where I will be doing my own 30 second introduction. In addition to that, I was also able to meet Maria Shriver when I was invited to take part in a discussion on Alzheimer’s research with her. They invited me to do the closing remarks to end the discussion. Then I went to the Opening Ceremony and was interviewed on a local UAE TV channel about being an SSIGM. I was on stage for the Ceremony and the fireworks were amazing!

Day Four

Today I discovered that Hanna means “joy” in Arabic, which means that my name is Joy Joy since my middle name is Joy! I was overjoyed!! The Coca-Cola luncheon was wonderful and I did my 30 second speech that went really well! I was able to meet the amazing Michelle Kwan who inspires me with her figure skating. She supported us SSIGMs at the luncheon and even brought her parents to join in the fun! Later I was able to take Patrick Kennedy and his cute children on a VIP tour of Healthy Athletes and talked with a few of the health care providers. Finally, I met a volunteer from Ireland who offered me a chance to share my poem about inclusion in her publication!

Day Five

This morning I participated in the Unified Run and finished the 2.5km race in 16 minutes! I then was interviewed for the Abu Dhabi Daily show by my fellow SSIGM Daniel, where I talked about the Strong Minds discipline at Healthy Athletes. I also did some sightseeing and went over to the Grand Mosque with my mentor Georgia, where we took some pictures. While I was there I bumped into my cycling teammate from Colorado, Jeremy!

Day Six

I made a sister for life with snowboarder and Special Olympics Ambassador Hannah Teter and I was filled with enjoyment! At the Global Youth Leadership Summit, I interviewed Hannah on stage and tomorrow I will emcee the Summit. Then I spent the rest of the day relaxing with my mentor Georgia, which was our first free time we’ve had since we got here. We were tired!

Day Seven

The food just keeps getting better every day! I have eaten a lot hummus and dates in Abu Dhabi. This morning, I emceed the Global Youth Leadership Summit which was really cool. From there I went to the opening for the Unified Champion Schools which was really fun. A goal has been set for all schools in the UAE to now be Unified! Tonight I had the opportunity to do something I have always wanted to do: ride a camel!! We were in the desert at sunset, I climbed the sand dunes, and had the chance to hold a falcon. It was a dream come true with an impressive show, too!

Day Eight

Today I started my day by trading for a pretty awesome rare pin from the assistant general manager at the Ritz Carlton hotel! Then it was off to Zayed Sports City to cheer on a fellow athlete leader, Matthew from Canada during his Unified tennis match, where he competed with his wife Crystal! While there, I went to the Coca-Cola booth where they were creating personalized Coca-Cola cups with your picture on it as a giveaway, and I had a spontaneous dance party with some SSIGMs! Next we went to Yas Island where I was also able to see my Colorado teammate Jeremy compete in cycling and was cheering so hard! He did a great job. In addition, I was able to cycle for seven laps on the Grand Prix race track where cycling was taking place. It was a really wonderful experience at the Ferrari World. We rode the world’s fastest roller coaster about 10 times in row! If you can believe it, this helped my stress to slow down a lot which was great!

Day Nine

We made the 2 hour trip north to Dubai today and I went to the Dubai Mall. I purchased gifts and I took photos of the mall. We were able to see the Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world! I also produced my own fun video today, too. To end our day, we went to Hamdan Sports Complex where I cheered on Special Olympics USA swimmers and my friend Kyle from Colorado took home the silver medal!

Day Ten

The two weeks in the UAE were really awesome! I enjoyed everything and it was a terrific business trip. I have been able to reflect on the trip and it was spectacular. Lastly, I went to the Closing Ceremony and it was outstanding. Now, all of the Sargent Shriver International Global Messengers are official family for life!

I’ll leave you with a quote from one of the most important people in my life, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

“Let us not forget that we have miles to go to overturn the prejudices and oppression facing the world’s one hundred eighty million citizens with intellectual disabilities.” –Eunice Kennedy Shriver

In some way, I realized that I needed this reminder to face the world to show everyone that I am someone that will have Down syndrome for my whole life; that I cannot control what happened to me. The only thing I can do is to live life wholeheartedly and travel around the world to learn about amazing history that is being made. I can share the word of the Lord by spreading kindness and unlimited joy because I totally desire that to be my main focus and message. I should be heard and seen and not contained. I want to ask: who is with me?!?!