Thank you Peruvian Volleyball for doing this!
Gaby Perez del Solar (silver medallist at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul) and Leyla Chihuan (captain of the Peruvian volleyball team from 2005 to 2010 and current Peruvian congresswoman) lend their support to World Autism Awareness Day.
The Peruvian Volleyball League will join the celebrations for World Autism Awareness Day, following an initiative by Leyla Chihuan, Peruvian parliamentarian and former captain of Peru’s national women’s team from 2005 to 2010.
The Peruvian Volleyball Federation will be working in conjunction with local organisation ‘Soy Autista y Qué’, which seeks to promote awareness of autism as well as the inclusion and the creation of opportunities for people with this condition.
All through the first week of April, the facades of landmark buildings all over the country – including the Manuel Bonilla Coliseum, headquarters of the Peruvian Volleyball League – will be lit blue to mark the event. As a show of support, players from the clubs participating in the Peruvian league will also wear blue to raise awareness for the cause.
Leyla Chihuan, Peruvian congresswoman and author of the ‘Autism Law’ in Peru said, “Peruvian volleyball could not be oblivious to this initiative, which seeks to bring awareness to issues of autism. Thanks to the Peruvian Volleyball Federation, Peruvian athletes will play in blue to identify with the struggle faced by people with autism.”
Luis Linares, president of the Peruvian Volleyball Federation, stressed the importance of making a connection with the sport that awakens passion within Peruvian households and the reality of autism, a condition about which few citizens are informed.
“On World Autism Awareness Day, volleyball becomes an opportunity for greater awareness and understanding of this condition thus achieving a more inclusive world,” said Linares.