ANNUAL JOGATHON & WHEELATHON WITH THE DISABLED
AT DATARAN MERDAKA
On 28^TH September 2003

By Marisha Naz 

            Nope this isn’t one of my school events or any usual jogathon day when people jog a few km and reach the finish line. This jogathon that I'm talking about was a really special one. This jogathon that I attended as a volunteer on the 28^th September at Dataran Merdeka, is a jogathon for the handicapped, disabled and all our other special friends. 

            Together with Melissa, Alif, Athir, Hazwin and Darshana, we set off to Dataran Merdeka early in the morning. When we arrived there, I was amazed by the amount of people there. Although this jogathon was for the disabled, there were many other people around the area just wanting to lend a helping hand.  

            I played my part in making this event a success by helping out with the stretching program, which was the chicken dance .A simple 3 minute dance, that consisted of very simple and easy dance moves. Other YAs and I presented this dance up on stage and were followed by 70 other children. It was great watching the physically-challenged people able to follow along with the dance and at the same time having lots of fun  

            Then, the jogathon started. There were two tracks, a 1km track and a 3km track. I accompanied the deaf and blind on the 1km track and made a few friends. Although these people were deaf and blind, they still had a lot of determination in them to finish the race. I was indeed impressed with how much focus and determination all of them had. Well, I guess it must have paid off when all of them got a certificate of participation after completing the race. Well done!! 

            Well, my amusement didn’t stop there. Fellow friends from Bethany Home made a few performances. Wow! These kids really know how to shake their booty! Some preformed Michael Jackson dance, while others preformed a Chinese, Malay and Indian traditional dance. All of them looked so adorable in their costumes and really entertained the crowd. 

            Not so long after that, the winners of the jogathon were announced according to specific categories. All the winners received a hamper and a certificate.  This proves that nothing is impossible, even our friends who are physically-challenged, managed to complete the jogathon.