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Name Surname:<\/b> Daiga Dadz\u012bte
\nCountry:<\/b> Latvia
\nCity:<\/b> Riga
\nNationality:<\/b> Latvian
\nSector:<\/b> Culture and Sport
\nPosition:<\/b>President of Latvian Paralympic Committee and Chairman of the Board in Latvian Association for People with Physical Disabilities Pontes https:\/\/www.lpkomiteja.lv\/lpk\/category\/jaunumi\/<\/p>
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In relation to my education, I started working as director\u2019s assistant in driving school\u2019s training centre. After that, I was commercial director in international Baltic company. In 1998, I got in an accident where I broke my spine, followed by one year of rehabilitation. Back in the work, they were ready to wait for me to get better and return to my duties, however, I decided to leave as I understood that I\u2019m not ready yet to be in a wheelchair and work full time. In 2000, me and my confederates founded NGO for people with disabilities called \u2018J\u016bnijs\u2019. Me and my colleague started to stand up for the rights of people with disabilities \u2013 about accessibility, about various support opportunities from Riga City Council. It started from Riga City Council but soon spread throughout Latvia \u2013 we collaborated both with The Ministry of Welfare and biggest municipalities. In 2005, we realized that association \u2018J\u016bnijs\u2019 is not enough anymore and we decided that it\u2019s time to create one big organization which will be able to combine all those small organizations which have formed in the past years. So we created Latvian Association for People with Physical Disabilities \u2018Pontes\u2019. Unlike \u2018J\u016bnijs\u2019 which helped people more on individual level, \u2018Pontes' works on a bigger, more national scale \u2013 we take part in discussions held in ministries, if new projects or, for example, legislation are developed and it somehow affects people with disabilities, we work as consultants. In 2006, I was offered to join in sports, indirectly \u2013 by creating Latvian Wheelchair Basketball Federation, apart from \u2018Pontes\u2019, I was also Chairman of the Board in Latvian Wheelchair Basketball Federation. In 2011 there was a minor interest conflict and I decided to leave this federation. From 2009 I am the president of Latvian Paralympic Committee.<\/p><\/div>
My candidacy for the Latvian Paralympic Committee was referred. In 2010 there was official election for the president\u2019s position and I was officially elected for 4 years, in 2014 I was elected again for 4 years. Next elections will be in 2018. I don\u2019t want to sound too self-confident but at the moment, I don\u2019t see anyone who could replace me \u2013 I am \u2018raising\u2019 new employees, I have even involved my daughter in Paralympic movement, she is a team leader for all teams, she\u2019d be great general secretary and even president. But, of course, she is young now, she wants to study and live her own life.Latvian Paralympic Committee is umbrella organization for all sports for people with disabilities in Latvia \u2013 we are the ones who direct and invest state resources given for the Paralympic sport. We are also taking part in various international projects, we are writing projects ourselves, we are involving children and young people in sport activities, we try to attract the attention to sports federations in order to show that sport is for everyone, not only for people without any disabilities. We are also showing that there are possibilities to create new type of sports regarding Paralympic movement \u2013 in September, by collaborating with Sweden, Denmark and Estonia, new project will start, connected with parasailing \u2013 which is not yet so known in Latvia. Sometimes our local experience can help and instruct other countries \u2013 by showing how with so limited resources it\u2019s possible to do so much and develop even more. Our Paralympic sportsman achievements are unbelievable! International Paralympic Committee data on athletics shows statistically that by taking into account the population of country and the number of medals won, Latvia is in the first place in the world! In Rio Paralympics there were 11 athletes from Latvia, representing 7 type of sports, it was something that never happened before in the history of Latvia! Based on the medals our athletes won in Rio, we are ranking 7th<\/sup> in the world. In 1998 during the accident I broke my spine and therefore the first obstacle I had to overcome was the fear from society \u2013 the feeling that you will be perceived wrongly, looks you think you get on the street. First 2 years I didn\u2019t even go out, I spent most of my time at home. I have realized that if you don\u2019t accept yourself, others won\u2019t do it as well. Those other obstacles are nothing like that \u2013 okay, something\u2019s not accessible, but you can always ask for help and you can also give an advice on how to work better on such issues. Self-acceptance is the most important thing here. To overcome these obstacles, I contacted with other people just like me. When the accident happened, I had the feeling that I\u2019m the only one facing that kind of situation. Back then, there were many great rehabilitation options funded by the state. For example, in one of the rehabilitation centres we were 30 people in wheelchair at the same time \u2013 from different cities in Latvia, with different experience. Then, you have the possibility to learn something and after that you realize that you are not alone in this. Experience from other people in similar situation is what helps to overcome difficulties like this. Although, I have to admit that I know a lot of people in wheelchair and 80% of them cannot overcome that kind of struggle.I\u2019ve also helped people with disabilities by talking to them, going to rehabilitation centres and explaining them that their life is not over yet. Of course, it is very difficult for them because at least for half a year you think that everything is going to be normal again, I will walk again. Sometimes I got a call from unknown person asking for help, to talk. For me, it\u2019s some sort of subconscious mission.. When it comes to my goals, I have to say that I will turn 46 this year, and I had a lot of goals which I had followed and reached eventually. Now I have the goal of involving more children and young people into sports. And my biggest goal of all is to create Paralympic centre here in Latvia. We are taking small steps already and I hope that by all we will achieve this goal! If this will happen then I\u2019ll believe that I had done everything I could for the Paralympic sport. Now, there are not a lot of sport centres which are suitable for people with disabilities. First, it is very expensive, for example, one exercise in wheelchair basketball cost approximately 40 \u2013 50 euros. Taking into consideration the overall funding for Paralympic sports in Latvia, we are economizing on everything. Unfortunately, we cannot provide nor this exercise process itself or trainer. Creation of this centre is crucial because in that way we would have accessible space to exercise, we could exercise when we like and when we need, we\u2019d have our physiotherapist, sport medicine physicians and trainers, people could come from all around Latvia in order to live there and exercise. That will also open up opportunities for us to organize international competitions and to popularize the opinion that people with disabilities can do sports! We are showing that there are possibilities for people with severe disabilities to participate as well.<\/p><\/div> I have good communication skills, also I\u2019m good with motivating and coordinating colleagues and employees. I am still the chairman of the board in organization \u201cPontes\u201d where I have to deal with various changes regarding legislation, therefore I am quite literate in laws and legislation. Even though I don\u2019t have as much time as I\u2019d want to help others, I\u2019m still trying to do that. Sometimes I got a call from people because, for example, I know what and how you need to do in order to set up a hoist for a wheelchair. I never say no, I then contact the welfare department and take care of organizational matters. I have this amazing opportunity as manager \u2013 I can send my employees to courses, trainings and seminars for them to gain new information and improve their knowledge. Improvement and professional development of my employees is of great importance for me. No doubt, I also try to gain new information through various channels and I don\u2019t have a problem to use freshly gained information into practice. To be honest, it is hard to manage your employees if you don\u2019t understand a thing.;Also, I have quite wide experience and skills in making collaborations \u2013 with municipalities, sponsors, organizers of competitions. I involve myself and my employees in such matters \u2013 we have regular internal meeting where we discuss what is and what should be done. Although, I would want to trust more \u2013 both my employees and other people. Sometimes I feel that I can do specific job faster and better, but in cases like that, I make it harder for myself \u2013 both in terms of duties, and personal time.<\/p><\/div> My first advice is like that \u2013 you have to learn how to love yourself. Maybe it sounds trivial but it\u2019s true \u2013 you have to understand yourself, how you live, how can you manage yourself, after that you can go and live further. Of course, it is good to find the one thing, niche which you are good at, your genius idea \u2013 what do you want to do, whether it is a goal or an idea \u2013 because often an idea isn\u2019t the goal and the other way around. Every person has its set of skills, for me, example, it\u2019s the skill of leadership. From what I remember, I\u2019ve always been in positions where I can manage and lead. Every person needs to find its own niche \u2013 one can lead, the other one can\u2019t, it is some sort of an art \u2013 to find what you are good at. Do not sit at home but go and be involved! Actually, there are a lot of things which you can achieve voluntarily. In organization \u2018J\u016bnijs\u2019, \u2018Pontes\u2019, in Latvian Wheelchair Basketball Federation and at the beginning even in Latvian Paralympic Committee I worked without any salary. My only income was disability support pension and various social benefits and support. Moreover, at the moment, I was raising two children \u2013 my own daughter and my younger sister, we lived from disability support pension, daughter\u2019s alimony and sister\u2019s survivor\u2019s pension. But it is possible to overcome all that \u2013 all you need is willingness and motivation. Through volunteer activity it is possible to achieve so much \u2013 we go and we talk, we asked, we protested and eventually achieved that those small disability support pensions were raised, various matters regarding transportation became better, there were hoists installed, care and assistant allowance regarding people with disabilities was introduced \u2013 this was all done by me and my colleague from \u2018Pontes\u2019. Also, it is really important to maintain political independence if you want to work in NGO. <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1781,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-455","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-country","category-latvia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/100mirrors-inc.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/100mirrors-inc.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/100mirrors-inc.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100mirrors-inc.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100mirrors-inc.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455"}],"version-history":[{"count":59,"href":"https:\/\/100mirrors-inc.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2287,"href":"https:\/\/100mirrors-inc.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/455\/revisions\/2287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100mirrors-inc.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/100mirrors-inc.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100mirrors-inc.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100mirrors-inc.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}