On Monday, Deputy Governor General Steadman Fuller hosted a party consisting of officials from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Americas Paralympic Committee (APC), and the Jamaica Paralympic Association (JPA) at King’s House in St Andrew.

The courtesy call, which started at 10:00 am, lasted roughly 20 minutes but was deemed by all in attendance as fruitful.

“It went very well, very well,” JPA President Christopher Samuda told the Jamaica Observer. “The governor general was fully briefed and, separate and apart from the brief, he is a man of understanding in terms of the Paralympic movement. He has had indirect relationships with the Paralympic movement.”

Samuda says the group discussed how the Paralympic movement could be developed.

IPC President Andrew Parsons says, in his discussions with Fuller, he tried to impress on him that the committee is not just a sports movement but one for social change and changing perceptions towards persons with disabilities.

“Persons with disabilities make up for 15 per cent of the global population,” he told the Observer. “Probably you’ll have a similar percentage here in Jamaica, so we’re talking about a big part of the Jamaican population that through sport can have better access to a more inclusive society. This means when you change the perception, you tell the Jamaican society, ‘Look at what they can do in the field of play. It opens their minds to what they can do elsewhere. It’s not only in sport, it’s in the labour market, it’s in society in general, it’s in education, in art, in culture, in politics. This is the conversations with the bigger heads and the senior officials are about. But his was more a high-level conversation about the role of Paralympic sports in the world and, of course, here in Jamaica.”

APC was represented by its Executive Director Michele Formonte and its Projects Manager Adriana Rincón.

Formonte, who told the Observer on her arrival on the island Saturday that she sees Jamaica as a potential hub for Paralympic development in the region, says that would involve partnerships with the Government. She left the courtesy call feeling positive about the interaction.

“It was amazing, as I mentioned to Christopher Samuda,” she said. “This meeting today was very positive. We were very happy about it and the idea is to empower and to work with the Caribbean through Jamaica. If we increase the [number of] people with disabilities playing sports, and increase the number of sports as well, I’m sure Jamaica can be a role model of management and sports development. This is the idea of the meeting. It was very, very good and we’re very happy about it.”

Rincón is paying attention to the development of grass-roots Paralympic sports in Jamaica, and also Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. The project was started by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF).

“The idea is to stretch the structure of the sports systems in these countries,” she told the Observer. “It’s also to watch over the institutions that are a part of the Paralympic System. This involves the sports administrators, the coaches, all the persons that are involved in that process.”

Rincón says there are three main activities in this project. The first is to perform a diagnosis on the public policies in the sports. Another is to carry out a diagnosis on sports venues in terms of their accessibility for differently abled athletes. Rincón also mentions a training cycle regarding strategies for sports marketing and technical training.

Governor General Sir Patrick Allen announced in February 2022 that March 11 would be recognised annually as National Paralympic Day, to honour the achievements of Jamaica’s Paralympians and the efforts of the JPA to increase the profile of the Paralympic Movement in Jamaica.

Samuda says there are several activities planned for this year, as there were in the previous editions.

Fuller is acting in the absence of Allen, who is recovering from a recent surgery.

— Rachid Parchment