Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 12

Guess who's waving at the closing ceremony?

I have an early start with Lisa and Stuart back to the airport as we have a lift from Ann Tynan (Lisa's and my second host), who is due on airport volunteer duty at 8 a.m.

The rain, which held off during most of the games, is now pouring down and fits my mood perfectly. A number of teams are also departing at the same time as us and I meet up again with with some of the Pakistan basketball team. Each team is announced as they walk through to departures and the whole of the check-in area stops to applaud and cheer them.

There is a hold-up at our check-in desk and an airport employee beckons us to follow him*. We end up in the Special Olympics designated area and a desk is opened especially for us to check-in. This is just one example** of the support, helpfulness and encouragement we've all experienced as volunteers from the people in Dublin in general, and our host families from the Bank in particular, during the Special Olympics. There's been a real pride and buzz to the place whilst we've been there.

It's been a real privelege to have played a small part in such a life changing event and to have spent time focusing on the positive side of what can be achieved by anyone who has the heart and courage to try. Anyone for 2007 in Shanghai?

* = We'd decided to wear our uniforms home as we were popping into work afterwards. I suppose that gave him a big clue...

** = I can't believe I didn't mention in my diary not being able to walk down Grafton Street without people coming up to shake me by the hand, tell me what a good job I was doing and asking if Ireland had won any more gold medals. Also on Thursday I went out with all the Loughlinstown volunteers for a farewell drink. Whilst waiting for the last bus to take me back to Stillorgan, a man in a very nice BMW stopped to ask us (as I was with a friend) where we were going. Although our destination was in totally the opposite direction to where he was going, he insisted on giving us both a lift home

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Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 11

Brazil says 'Thanks'

I attend the closing ceremony at Croke Park with mixed emotions - happiness to be there and to have experienced everything that's happened, but sadness at its ending. Our seats turn out to be very close to where the athletes come into the stadium, so we can easily attract the attention of the many athletes we've come to know over the past 10 days.

Sadly, the Bahrain team can't be there as a mix-up over their flights means they departed earlier in the day. The ceremony is specatcular*, but we all feel a little flat when the Special Olympics Flame of Hope is extinguished.

I catch the DART train back to Dun Laoghaire** with a number of my new friends and we all get our carriage singing along to the Special Olympics anthem***, which has just reached number 1 in the Irish charts.

* = Mainly Boy Band heaven from what I recall - Busted, Blue, Boyzone, West Life plus Samantha Mumba and Liberty X!

** = I'd had to move out of Stillorgan the day before as my host had 3 Italian students coming to stay and needed my room. So I went to stay at Ann Tynan's house, where the BBQ was on Day 1. We had a fantastic walk along the sea front at Dun Laoghaire (part of the famous Bloomsday walk) and a meal from the best Indian takeaway in Dublin!

*** = "May We Never Have to Say Goodbye" - very Irish, very sentimental, but surprisingly good. I guess it summed up the feelings of the Games pretty well - I wonder if I'd still like it if I heard it now, 5 years later? You couldn't move in Dublin without hearing it the whole time I was there.

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Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 10

Waiting to play...

My Bahrainian team is due to play their match against Ireland 1 at the same time as the men's Irish team on the other court. As a result, there are long queues dressed in Irish green and orange trying to get into the Arena.

I meet up with my "girls", who are in a very mischevious mood. It's very emotional to lead them out on court with the Special Olympics anthem playing at full blast and a crowd of over 500 spectators giving them a great welcome. They play their best match so far until they're totally exhausted. It's a very close game, with the lead changing several times. Ireland just sneak in as winners and the girls are totally devastated. We have just a few minutes to get them smiling again in time for the awards ceremony. Luckily I've managed to secure a female dignitary to present the awards, so Muslim etiquette isn't contravened*. A guard of honour of volunteers forms around the court and the girls do their lap of honour to Tina Turner's "Simply the Best". Then it's time to say our final goodbyes - with hugs, kisses and tears all round.

* = most of the girls were of an age where being touched by a male who's not a member of their family contravenes Muslim law, hence my need to find a female dignitary in 5 minutes flat in order to avoid a very embarassing situation!

Click here for Day 11.

Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 9

Off for a quick recce of the new venue. This turns out to be time well spent as getting there is a little complicated and the layout is completely different to what I'm used to. I have a free day, so it's time to look at some of the other competitions. I've heard that the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) venue is the place to be, so I head for the centre of the city. The RDS has the athlete entertainment village*, so there's plenty on offer to keep them occupied between competitions. Now I can see where the wild hair-do's and face painting creations have come from that have turned up in Loughlinstown. There is also the Healthy Athlete programme* available, which has already saved the sight of at least 2 athletes and provided an artifical leg for another. Over 2,000 athletes have taken advantage of the facilities on offer, including Zena from my Bahrain team who has had her hearing aid repaired during the competition.

There are 5 sports on offer at the RDS - Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Power Lifting, Bocce (a bit like carpet bowls) and the Motor Activity Programme. The latter is a demonstration sport at the Games and involves athletes who face major challenges. There are a number of activities for the athletes, such as bean bag lifting, kicking a ball and walking. Completion of these simple tasks are real achievements for the athletes taking part and there isn't a dry eye amongst the spectators (including mine).

* = that's why we met so many clowns and dental students on Day 2!

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Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 8

It's the last day of competition at Loughlinstown today, so there's a real carnival atmosphere amongst the staff. It's amazing how well the team has gelled on so little acquaintance with each other.

My morning is relatively free, so I finally get going with another major feature of the games - pin (badge) swapping. I strike a hard bargain with Mooza from the Bahrain team and also acquire a pin from one of the twin Ukrainian* players. Saleh, the Bahrain coach also gives me a t-shirt as thanks for looking after the team and to say "goodbye". However, the end of the day's play brings a further surprise - Bahrain will play Ireland 1 for a bronze medal at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday. I quickly get myself re-assigned to Tallaght* so that I can stay with the team for their game and the awards ceremony. We also finally get our tickets for the closing ceremony on Sunday. Everyone based at Loughlinstown will be sitting together at Croke Park - it should be a great party!

* = another Dublin suburb, it also turns out to be 2 bus rides away from my digs

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Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 7

Warming up...

All change today - Argentina have not been disqualified, but have moved up a division as have Pakistan. It means that any matches these teams have played are now null and void and we are facing scheduling extra matches today in order to catch up. Once again I am assigned to Bahrain, who have supporters from a local primary school in to see them. The entire school raised funds to bring over four of the girls and have all made Bahrain flags to wave when the team scores. There are also supporters from the host town* the team stayed with the week prior to the competition.

It is great to see the support there for them**. As Bahrain play first they finish their day at lunchtime so I am reassigned in the afternoon to Bhurat (the Indian name for India). This has different challenges to Bahrain as four of the girls are deaf and dumb and the rest of the team speak four different languages between them. Once again, the common languages of mime, smiles and lots of hugs win the day and the team happily arrive on court to play their match.

* = can't remember which town it was, but they were quite a way from Dublin. The girls were so pleased to see them, and it was obvious that the townfolk had taken them to their hearts

** = often it was just me, the two team coaches and another English woman travelling with them who were the only people shouting and cheering for Bahrain. Luckily I can shout very loudly when needed!

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Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 6

It's a shorter working day today and the athletes have the afternoon off to prepare for a special expedition to Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. I am assigned to runner duties, which today consists of mainly crowd control* as the sports centre has a long queue of spectators waiting to see a match.

The last two games of the day both involve Ireland, so the crowd's expectations are high as we run them through their cheering and Mexican wave paces. Ireland 1 are playing Argentina, who very quickly go 25-0 up within five minutes. Looking at the officials' faces it is clear that something is wrong - it seems Argentina may not have used "best endeavours" during the divisioning process and so are playing in a lower division than their current abilities are showing. If this is true, then the team face disqualification...

* = always needed when Ireland were playing - the turnout of supporters was huge

Click here for Day 7.

Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 5

Relaxing before the match begins

I am looking after the team from Bahrain and so have taken a crash course in Muslim etiquette and Arabic - six words goes a long way*! Luckily a lot of smiling and miming crosses the language barrier. My "girls" are allocated to Division 2 alongside Argentina, Greece and Ireland 1.

The round-robin tournament started today and as Bahrain aren't playing until the afternoon, I have a temporary role as a "runner" i.e. helping out where needed. At lunchtime I revert to my usual role - "staging", which means I look after a team until they go on court to play**. As my charges are a lively bunch, I have to do a lot of chasing around to keep the team together!!

One of my best experiences so far is when I lead the team onto the court to play Ireland. It's a packed crowd and everyone cheers when the teams are led out to the sound of Queen's "We are the Champions". It turns out to be one of the best games of the day with Ireland just having the edge***.

* = hello, goodbye, please, thank you, hurry and washroom. The last 2 words were needed frequently as my charges got extremely nervous and were forever in the changing rooms. I got them courtside on time by the skin of my teeth most days

** = where I would handover to "field of play" and watch the match from the sidelines if I wasn't needed as a runner. After the game I'd return to my charges and look after them in the rest area, or courtside, or make sure they got on their coach back to their hotel depending on their itinery for the day

*** = Bahrain were a more all round team, but Ireland 1 had one key player. All the team had to do was to get the ball and hand it to her, where she'd run rings around everyone. Naturally, the home crowd loved her and she became quite a star, appearing regularly on Irish TV and being hounded for autographs everywhere she went. I got asked for my autograph too by many Irish schoolchildren. On one memorable occasion I said 'But I'm nobody', only for another child to shout 'Hey Nobody, can I have your autograph?'

Click here for Day 6.

Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 4

Getting ready to face the shooting skills test

I have been assigned to assist with basketball at Loughlinstown Sports Centre* on the southern outskirts of Dublin. Today and yesterday, the athletes took part in "Divisioning" - an assessment of their individual skills and team play. The aim is to divide the 16 female teams into four divisions of approximately equal ability ready for the start of Monday's matches. Everyone is struggling to play well** after such a late finish at last night's opening ceremony.

* = that meant 2 buses from my digs on the other side of the city (in Stillorgan) to the sports centre, taking an hour each way. On top of a 10 hour stint, it was quite a long day! Luckily as a Special Olympics volunteer I'd been given a public transport pass for the duration of the games, so could go anywhere in Dublin on buses and trains for free.

** = or were they? See 24th June's post...

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Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 3

Nelson Mandela declares the Special Olympics open

The days long and varied experiences are overshadowed by the Opening Ceremony*. The atmosphere is electric and many stars were there to show their support for the Games. Arnold Schwarzenegger** and Mohammed Ali can't be missed and Jon Bon Jovi gets nabbed by all the athletes. Entertainment is ably supplied by The Corrs, River Dance, Ronan Keating and U2. Other highlights are performances from arts and dance troops comprising both able-bodied and special needs children and adults. The Special Olympics flag is summoned into the stadium by over 120 drummers.

Finally, the stadium erupts when Nelson Mandela arrives - we shout ourselves hoarse and wave our flags madly. The flame of hope is lit by an Irish athlete and fireworks bring a magical evening to an end.

* = I can't believe I said so little about it as 80,000 spectators, 7,000 athletes, 2,000+ performers etc. all descending on the stadium at once was just awesome. A fleet of helicopters were constantly overhead flying all the dignitaries and celebs into Croke Park. In contrast I was in a seething mass of friendly people all walking there - we'd long abandoned trying to get there by bus. The traffic in Dublin is bad at the best of times, this was pure gridlock. But nobody minded at all, it was just wonderful. We all had flags to wave - each block had its own colour and we were choreographed into giant Mexican waves using them - I still have mine, an orange one. I was perched right at the top of the stadium, so had a gnats eyed view of everything. We shouted ourselves hoarse, screamed along to all of the songs (as did a passing steam train passing by just as U2 came on stage), stomped till our feet hurt and hugged all of our neighbours. It was good craic!

** = He declared his canditature for Governor of California on returning to the US and looked huge even from where we were at the top of the stadium

Other stars who made an appearance:

• Pierce Brosnan
• Colin Farrell
• Eddie Irvine
• Lots more - I can't remember them all!

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Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 2

Yay - we're off to the Opening Ceremony! The team at the International Volunteers' reception

We all meet at Trinity College for the International Volunteers training session. We find out lots of background information, but is frustrating for most of us as we don't know our work rotas yet. However, a quick round of phone calls eventually gets us sorted out. Our next challenge is to find our way to the supply depot a few miles away to pick up our uniforms, along with 200 other international volunteers. Along the way we meet up with volunteer dentists, clowns, plus a host of sports volunteers. It quickly shows us the breadth of duties needed and why it takes 30,000 volunteers to keep things going!

The evening finds us at the BoI* Arts Centre at a reception for the International Volunteers. We team up with volunteers from Canada, USA, Singapore, Australia and the Bahamas**. However, we're all desperate to go to the Opening Ceremony, so the main focus of the evening is the draw for tickets. Louise and Amanda are both successful - the rest of us find it hard not to show our disappointment***. It is then announced that there are tickets available for everyone - hugs and smiling faces all round!

* = Bank of Ireland

** = I don't know why I didn't mention it at the time, but there were other UK volunteers there too (it felt very strange to be classed as an International Volunteer!), including someone who'd volunteered at The Commonwealth Games in Manchester the year before

*** = they were all for handing their tickets back - 'We all go, or none of us do' - great team spirit eh!

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Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 1

At last we're off to Dublin! The months of waiting are over, as are the trials of getting our security clearances* in time. Meeting Roy Keenan**, press attention, a buffet lunch, receiving thoughtful goody bags (containing maps, guide to Dublin and other treats) all add to our collective excitement.

We're met at Dublin Airport*** by Breda Gartland, one of the volunteer co-ordinators, plus some of our host families. Lisa and I are whisked off to Dun Laoghaire for a BBQ with Lisa's host family. We meet my host, Cathy Harrison and her family, plus a number of fellow volunteers from the Bank. A lively evening ensues - it's going to be a good week!

* = we had to go through the standard police criminal check and didn't meet the deadline given for Special Olympics volunteers to confirm their suitability to work with children. Much angst ensued amongst us as we thought we wouldn't be allowed to go

** = the Managing Director of the UK part of the Bank at the time

*** = the airport was packed, full of athletes who'd come for the Games. Each team was announced over the airport's tannoy system and the whole place would come to a halt whilst the athletes passed through, accompanied by everyone cheering and clapping them. Our arrival coincided with the arrival of Team America, who'd come over in a 747 specially chartered for the event

Click here for Day 2.