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Bringing Table Tennis Back to Schools in Sierra Leone |
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Wednesday, 26 December 2007 |
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 It proved not to be an easy task but eventually the intrepid traveller,
Egypt�s Ahmed Dawlatly (right), eventually reached Freetown, the capital of Sierra
Leone.
The task was to conduct an ITTF Level One Coaches Courses under the
direction of the ITTF Development Programme from 27th November to 3rd December
and then a Training Camp for national team players from 4th to 12th December
2007.
A long and arduous flight or more to the point, long and arduous
flights were required with stopovers in Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana.
However, it was when he arrived in Sierra Leone that the journey really
began.
He landed at Lungi International Airport, the airport for Freetown but
the city of Lungi, is the other side of the river to Freetown; so it was a an
hour long river crossing by ferry and then another hour to the
hotel.
Civil War
Sierra Leone is a small country of five million
people situated on the west coast of Africa; the country endured a catastrophic
civil war between 1991 and 2002 in which almost a quarter of a million people
were killed.
The government thinks that sport could be the vehicle to
overcome difficulties and tragedies caused by war.
Table tennis was there to
deliver.
Course Members
�Twenty-two coaches from all over the
country participated in Level One Coaches Course whilst twelve athletes took
part in the training camp�, said Ahmed Dawlatly. �In total sixteen women
attended.�
All the events were carried out under the title �Taking Table
Tennis Back to School�, a slogan announced by Emmanuel Lebbie, the Secretary
General of the Sierra Leone Table Tennis Association at his speech at the
opening ceremony.
Sponsors
�Abu Bakr Bah, the acting president of
the Sierra Leone Table Tennis Association, the man behind the success of the
course, expressed his utmost happiness at seeing sponsors generously offering
their support for table tennis in Sierra Leone�, continued Ahmed Dawlatly. �Each
sponsor tried to find the best place for their advertisements in the venue
during the course.�
Sponsorship was a boost and the programme was financially
well planned thanks to the efforts of Mohamed Aly.
�He is an expert wood
carver�, added Ahmed Dawlatly. �He is the Financial Manager of the Sierra Leone
Table Tennis Association and the man, a very good player and a talented wood
carver too; he was dynmanic and found solutions to every
problem.�
Paralympians
A very successful course and it was one
which involved both able bodied and disabled students.
�I was extremely
thrilled to see both Fatu Jaica and George Wyndham; two Paralympians doing their
best on the course and trying hard not to miss any activity whatsoever�,
continued Ahemed Dawlatly. �Both are dreaming of
participating in the next
Paralympics in Beijing.�
Journey Home
The attendance of such
athletes was a great motivating factor for Ahmed Dawltaly who was no doubt
somewhat sad to leave; in fact he nearly didn�t leave!
�Leaving the country
the same way I came was a bit more difficult; I almost missed the ferry because
of the extraordinary heavy traffic�, said Ahmed Dawlatly. �However, I had no
need to worry; my escort Abu Bakr Bah had an alternative plan, a
helicopter!�
Bright Future
However, he did catch the ferry and he
left Sierra Leone with the country having new coaches; six had passed the Level
One Course and sixteen had gained the Club Coach certificate.
Now, the Sierra
Leone Table Tennis Association has the tools and the programme �Bringing Back
Table Tennis to Schools� promises to be a great success.
ITTF
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