Canadian speed skater Arne Dankers visits Rwanda for Right To Play
Date: Friday, June 08 @ 10:47:25 PDT :: Topic:
 After a good season that may have
surprised himself more than anyone, Olympic silver-medalist speed skater Arne Dankers visited Rwanda early May as an Athlete
Ambassador for Right To Play. Back home after this impressive experience,
Dankers talks about this trip and the dancing skills he picked up while being
there.
By Jolanda Abbes
Arne Dankers looks back on a good speed
skating season. After several top 10 finishes at the Fall World Cups and
some good races at the Canadian Single Distances Championships in December, he
was able to conclude the season with top 4 finishes in the 5k and the 10k and a
silver medal in the Team Pursuit at the World Single Distances Championships in
Salt Lake City. After this season’s end he traveled to Rwanda to see Right To
Play's work first-hand and to take part in activities and games with the
children in several schools and orphanages.
As part of the ‘Rwanda Challenge’ Dankers
visited Rwanda with fellow speed skater and Olympic double silver-medalist Kristina
Groves. On this trip, which took place May 1-8, they were joined by Hayley
Wickenheiser (two-time Olympic gold-medalist, hockey) and Jennifer Heil
(Olympic gold-medalist, moguls). Together, the four athletes traveled
approximately 100,000 kilometres on their round-trip journey. For the ‘Rwanda
Challenge’, a national fundraising campaign, they are now challenging Canadian
individuals and corporations to raise $1 for every kilometre they traveled, in
support of children in Right To Play programs in Rwanda and in 21 other
countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The entire campaign will
last 100 days, concluding in late July.
In the words of Mark Brender, Deputy
Director for Right To Play Canada, Right To Play's mission is “to improve the
lives of children in the most disadvantaged areas of the world by using the
power of sport and play to promote development, health and peace. We believe
that through sport and play, children can become happier and healthier, and we
can help build safer, more peaceful communities.” Knowing this, it is easy to
see that Right To Play can make a huge difference for the young people in
Rwanda. After the genocide of 1994 the country is now trying to rebuild and
redefine itself, and encounters many difficulties in doing so. Brender explains
how Right To Play can be of help: “The knowledge, attitudes and practice of
Rwandese surrounding HIV and AIDS put adolescents and youths at serious risk of
contracting the disease, and this is exacerbated by the loss of many qualified
teachers through the genocide of 1994. Through our sport and play programs, and
in particular our Live Safe, Play Safe module, we can encourage HIV/AIDS
awareness, behaviour change and promote the prevention of HIV/AIDS among
Rwandan children and youth. Right To Play is also collaborating with UNICEF on
a project to enhance the quality of education in 50 schools and in other
locations through teacher training, infrastructure improvements and other
initiatives.”
As Brender explains, there is reason why
the Athlete Ambassadors of Right To Play visit the countries in which the
organization is trying to make a difference: “The goal of these trips is to
provide an opportunity for our Athlete Ambassadors to see the impact of our
work, and to allow them to put some joy into the children's lives by
interacting with them. As a result, athletes are that much more educated and
empowered to promote Right To Play in Canada, and to speak authoritatively
about the humanitarian potential of sport. The smiles on the children's faces
speak volumes about what we're able to accomplish.”
Even though Dankers has only really been
involved for a year now, he first heard about Right To Play quite some time
ago: “I went to a talk that Johann Olav Koss gave about the Olympic truce when
I was 13 or 14. I had heard of his program, but didn't really know what it was.
Later that day he gave a talk about team building which was also incredible.
Anyways, that's when I heard about what Koss was doing. I thought it was very
good, but I didn't think that I would ever have the chance to be a part of it.
Many years later, I was still skating, and he started his organization Right To
Play. Then I took the chance that I thought that I would never have.”
When asked about
his first Right To Play trip, Dankers states that it made a great impression on
him. Even though the athletes were in Rwanda for only 4.5 days, they managed to
do and see a lot. They visited a different school each day, four schools in
total. “At the first school we got to see for the first time the Right To Play
games in action. I was mostly struck about the importance of inclusion in the
games. Everybody was included. I think that this is such an important thing. Even
in our schools here shy kids or kids that are somehow different often get left
out. But in a country like Rwanda, with the history that it has, I found it
especially powerful. At the end of recess the kids put on a dance show for us.
The people in Rwanda seem like they love to dance; everywhere we went they put
on a dance show for us. The kids are awesome at dancing.”
The second day the
athletes went to see the Genocide Memorial and visited an orphanage which is
run by Charles Nkazamyampi, an
Olympian from Burundi, called the Foundation of Sport and Culture for Peace. “Again
they put on a dance show for us. The orphanage is run by people who are trained
in the Right To Play games: red ball child play or RBCP. Each of the different
colors of balls represents a different aspect of health: mind, body, peace and
cooperation, health, spirit.” An example of such a game is a version of British
bulldog. One child stands in the middle of the field, and is labelled HIV/AIDS.
The rest of the children are divided into three groups: abstinence, condoms,
and fidelity; they all stand on one end of the field. When the child in the
middle calls out a group, that group tries to run across the field without
getting caught by the child in the middle (i.e. infected by HIV). “Afterwards
the teacher, or coach, talks about the game, and has the kids talk about the
game. For example, one kid might say: ‘It was hard to cross the field when
there were lots of people infected.’ In this way the teacher leads a discussion
about the game that applies to life, and the problems that the kids face in
their everyday lives.”
On the third day the
athletes went to Butare and visited the national museum of Rwanda. “We learned
lots about Rwanda and its history there. Then we visited a school that is
managed by CPAJ. This school was also an orphanage for street kids. Again we
played some RBCP games, and afterwards some soccer. The coaches at all these
schools are incredible people, and full of energy. Often they use dancing and
clapping in the warm-up to get the kids excited to play the games. It was fun
to be a part of that.”
The fourth day was a play day at a SOS school/boarding house. At this school
orphaned children are organized into ‘family’ groups of ten, with a mom and an
aunt for each family of ten. The mom and the aunt look after their family until
the children are married. “It was very interesting to see the differences in
all the different aid organizations and their approaches, and all the different
schools, and the kids within these schools.”
On the last day the athletes visited Green Hills Academy before they got on their
plane to leave. The Green Hills Academy is a private school for upper-class children.
“The school was set up by a Canadian couple, and they wanted to set up a school
in Rwanda with a very high level of quality. The kids in the school are part of
the International Baccalaureate program, which is a well-respected high school
diploma around the world. Again, it was interesting to see the differences in
this school compared to the others.”
Because his
brother had traveled through Rwanda the year before and had shared his pictures
and stories with him, Dankers thought he more or less knew what to expect for
this trip. However, not all was how he had expected it to be beforehand. “What
was different from what I expected was how important a role Right To Play plays
in the development and education of the kids. I think that people learn the
best when they are having fun, which is what the RBCP program does. These kids
face so many challenges in their lives that we can't even imagine, like living
on the street, being an orphan, child prostitution, dealing with the after
effects/trauma of the genocide, poverty, HIV/AIDS, et cetera. I think that to
empower these kids with tools for managing their situation – emotionally,
physically and spiritually – and to empower them through education and
awareness, to teach them skills that apply to their everyday life, is a very
noble cause, and a very important one. I also did not expect to see so much
dancing, and to be dancing so much myself!”
The Rwanda trip of Groves and Dankers has
not gone unnoticed. “With their double silver-medal performances in Turin,
Kristina Groves and Arne Dankers proved that they are among the best speed
skaters in the world,” said Johann Olav Koss, President and CEO of Right To
Play. “By traveling to Rwanda to see our programs, they also showed their
dedication and passion for Right To Play and the children we serve. I know
Kristina and Arne will continue to be inspirational role models for Canadian
children by sharing their experiences from the trip, and by being such strong
advocates for the power of sport to improve children’s lives.”
All in all, Dankers looks back on a trip
that made a huge impression on him. “It was a very eye-opening experience, and
I have learned a lot about life and about the world by going there.” On top of
that he has seen in what ways an organization like Right To Play can make a
true difference in the lives of children in countries like Rwanda. “I don’t
think I was able to make much of a difference personally, besides maybe by making
the kids laugh with my horrible dancing, but I do believe that Right To Play is
making a huge difference in the quality of the kids’ lives, and in their
ability to deal with their surroundings.”
Individuals and corporations interested in
donating money to the ‘Rwanda Challenge’ can do so online through a special
‘Right To Play Rwanda Challenge’ fundraising page at
www.righttoplay.com/rwandachallenge. The campaign will conclude in late July.
Donations to the ‘Rwanda Challenge’ can also be made by sending a cheque made
out to Right To Play, with ‘Rwanda Challenge’ in the subject line, to: Right To
Play, 468 Queen St. E., LL1, Toronto, ON, M5A 1T7.
Photo 1: Arne Dankers - 5k - 2007 World Single Distance Championships
Photo 2: Arne Dankers, Denny Morrison and Justin Warsylewicz - Team Pursuit - 2007 World Single Distance Championships
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