Special Olympics Nigeria to Commemorate 2016 EKS Day

In an effort to commemorate the 2016 Eunice Kennedy Shriver (EKS) Day, Special Olympics Nigeria will be hosting a Healthy Communities (HC) day filled with activities including medical services such as free dental and visual screening for athletes and partners.

According to SONigeria, attendees will be invited to take part in activities such as table tennis, basketball, bouncing castles and food stands.

The event is to hold on Saturday, October 15, 2016 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos at 9.00a.m.
The organizers of the event also said in a statement that the healthy community’s initiative, creates communities where Special Olympics athletes and others with intellectual disability have the same access to health and wellness resources and can attain the same level of good health as all community members.

During this programme, Special Olympics will be focused on “special smiles and opening eyes”.
EKS Day is an annual celebration of Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s life and a global call challenging everyone to Play Unified, Speak Unified, and Live Unified.

It brings together people with and without intellectual disabilities in various activities to honour the inspiration, impact and indomitable spirit of Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

“On this 7th annual EKS day, themed #playunified, Special Olympics Nigeria invites you to join us in playing unified and teaching the world to live unified; bringing together people with and without intellectual disabilities in various activities to honour the inspiration, impact and indomitable spirit of EKS,” the statement stressed.

Special Olympics Nigeria is part of a worldwide movement (Special Olympics international) that is aimed at changing the misconceptions individuals have about people with intellectual disabilities (PWID).

“Our mission is to provide various sport trainings and athletics competitions in a variety of Olympic – type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing continuous opportunities to develop physical fitness and skills required to manage day to day life,” the statement concluded.