Shruti and Manimeghlai from SOS India, are geared up to represent Team India at the Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi

Ahead of Special Olympics World Games, Abu Dhabi 2019, which will kick off from March 14th 2019, Shruti and Manimeghlai, are excited and fully prepared to represent India in the cycling championship.

The specially abled girls were present today amongst other participants who were preparing for the games at Jairam Ashram today. 19 year old Shruti, was brought to SOS Children’s Village Khajuri Kalan in 2007, when she was barely eight years old. Shruti is hearing and speech impaired, but that doesn’t deter her from her dream to win the gold in the world games and make India proud. A self-motivated young girl, Shruti has been cycling for six hours daily since she was nine years old. Her day begins and ends with cycling practices.

Similarly, Manimeghlai, 16 years old, was brought to SOS Children’s Village Nagapattinam when she was barely 3 years old. She is now growing up under special care at SOS Children’s Village Khajuri Kalan. While Mani is mildly intellectually challenged, she has always been athletic, with a keen interest in outdoor games, especially cycling, running and floorball. She has been practicing tirelessly and because of her consistent performance in state-level competition, she was selected for the national cycling championship, held at Ranchi, Jharkhand in 2018. Manimeghlai, astonished everyone by winning Gold in 2 Km and Silver in 1 km road race cycling. She overwhelmed the coaches and national level selection committee with her outstanding performance.

Cheering the participants, Anuja Bansal, Secretary General, SOS Children’s Villages of India said, “The Special Olympics is calling for society to show their support for a more inclusive and unified world, which cares for these special children. We, at SOS India, provide full support to the abandoned children with an inclusive ecosystem in a family-like environment in our villages, towards the realisation of their true potential.”

While applauding the two special cyclists, Ms Anuja said, “SOS India is proud of its special daughters who will be representing India in the games. Both of them are very talented with brilliant track records. Shruti has represented India in the Special Olympic World Summer games, held at Los Angeles in 2015. It is a great honour for us and we wish them all the best for the race.”

Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 will see more than 7,500 athletes from over 190 nations compete from 14th to 21st March. The athletes will compete in 24 Olympic-style sports in nine venues across Dubai and Abu Dhabi in what will be the largest sports and humanitarian event of the year.

The two girls represent and exemplify SOS India’s journey of nurturing once abandoned children and empowering them with different abilities towards the realisation of their potential. SOS India ensures and believes that imparting quality education accelerates achievement of Sustainable Development Goals while building services and infrastructure that empowers girls and women.