"Peace Through Sport" is a global initiative created
by His Royal Highness Prince Feisal bin Al Hussein of Jordan.
 ITTF
Co-ordinator of Development Programmes Leandro Olvech participated
as instructor for table tennis. Olvech tells about his experiences
in Jordan and the importance for the ITTF to be part of this
movement.
Pilot Camp in Amman
Peace Through Sport wants sustainable solutions to end conflict
and wants to help bringing unity to the world’s divided
communities. The kick-off was recently in Amman, Jordan with
a 10-day pilot camp.
The ITTF was represented by Leandro Olvech, who was in charge
for table tennis in Amman. The initiative Peace Through Sport
is supported by the International Olympic Committee and Prince
Feisal himself is President of the National Olympic Committee
of Jordan.
Breaking the Ice with Sport
"It was surely reasonable to be there", Olvech said
about his stay in Jordan. "Eighty people from seven countries
received instruction about how to teach table tennis for children.
There were United Nations blue helmets from Jordan that worked
in several conflict areas. They told me that many times they
used to practice sport with the local children and it broke
the ice with them."
Sport in Conflict Areas
The first part of the camp was about how to work in conflict
areas, but the second about how to build teams, structures
and projects. The profile of the participants from Iraq, Afghanistan,
Sudan, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan was much more
aligned to the leadership than to the sport.
"My feeling is that perhaps they won't teach a perfect
top spin but they will do something for the children in their
region", the ITTF Co-ordinator of Development Programmes
concludes.
Motto: "Small Ball Breaks Huge Tension"
Table Tennis seems to be an ideal sport for peace. "Some
participants told me about the mines risk", Leandro Olvech
tells about conversations in Amman that he does not have every
day. "A lot of children like to play around mined areas
looking for bullets or playing as if they were soldiers. When
these children are practising, they simply avoid that risk
because they will stay in a safe area."
The motto on a poster in Amman showing a table tennis player
was: "Small ball breaks huge tension". It is desirable
that table tennis plays its role in peace keeping and live
saving in conflict areas. The conclusion of Olvech is simple
and underlines the meaning of an ITTF involvement. "I
think that if table tennis can save the life of one child,
then for sure the support was not useless."
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"Source:
ITTF Press Release