DTM 6th batch alumnus Bony Georges from Haiti is resolute on scoring the first Paralympic medal for his country as the current President of the Haitian National Paralympic Committee.
Georges is overseeing long-term projects to make sport a national agenda in all areas of society that would result in a win of a Paralympic medal within the next three Paralympic cycles.
Project include opening centers to train athletes, coaches, and administrators; providing education and vocational training for athletes to prepare life after a career in sport; and decentralizing sport for people with disabilities.
Georges emphasized the need to gain the interest of the youth, civil societies, and private sectors for sport to become a national concern, as sport can channel their energy and potential to address violence, corruption, poor governance, and political turmoil.
This is particularly true for the youth as over 60 percent of the Haitian population is under 20 years old with only 2000 out of 1 million disabled persons partaking in sport.
Undeterred by the lack of sport infrastructure and resources in Haiti, Georges stated, “DTM has equipped me to become a social sports strategist and sports entrepreneur dedicated to the self-improvement of this vulnerable community.”
Studying at DTM allowed Georges to recognize that “Korean people have hard work at the center of their daily life. They are not complacent at all towards themselves. The people are really competitive, dedicated to their jobs, family, and community, so their society is on a continuous improvement mode in any activity they are undertaking.”
In other words, those characteristics of hard work, competitiveness, and dedication are all fundamental traits of sport, and sport can positively bring about change in Haiti.
