Special olympics, a training ground for German intern

A mentally-challenged boy was gesturing at a young foreign woman. The woman who could understood his call, walked towards him, to enquire whether he required any help.

Romy Dahlke, a 22-year old student of a course in special education teacher in Frankfurt, Germany, was the cynosure of all the eyes at the Special Olympics Bharat (SOB)-Karnataka organised at Mangala Stadium here on Saturday.

She was the flag bearer for a team of athletes from Saanidhya Residential School and Training Centre for Mentally Challenged here, leading them during the march past and was also one among several volunteers, drawn from different colleges in managing the show.

Romy told DH, “It was just three days ago, after landing at Saanidhya, did I come to know about special olympics. They choose me to be the flag bearer, an honour that would remain etched in my memory for long”.

Romy, who has completed one year of her four-and-a-half-year course back home, is doing her four-week internship programme at Saanidhya. The course includes total six internship programmes.

Romy, who is now learning the art of teaching, said, “I am focusing on the mindset of the specially abled children by interacting with them and also mingling with them”.

She is also proud to say that she will also be the first generation teacher in her family that includes her working parents and brother who is studying a course in mechanical engineering.

Earlier too, for a period of eight months starting from August 2014, she worked at Prajna Counselling Centre as part of a bridge programme. The Karl Kubel Foundation in Germany, supported by the Government of Germany, has been sending students to several countries as part of the bridge programme, beginning from the year 2010. Romy and her friend Zoe were among 16 students who had opted for South India.

Vasanth Kumar Shetty, the administrator of Saanidhya, also the area director for SOB- Karnataka, was all praise for Romy, especially for her dedication.

Perfect platform

The olympics proved to be a perfect platform for specially-abled students to showcase their talent in sports.

The event also helped the budding teacher to hone her skills.