The ITTF Foundation published its 2021 Annual Report, highlighting the numerous positive impacts it made worldwide during a year still impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The publication details all the projects led by the ITTF Foundation in 2021, the support received from its generous partners, the achievements of its dedicated teams, and the contribution of the global table tennis family.
Tanjun Associate, one of six recipients of the Dream Building Fund powered by GSD, started the programme by collaborating with two schools in Uttarakhand. The two-year project aims to use table tennis to raise awareness about the environment and act against deforestation in the region by focusing on early age education on preventing deforestation, plantation activities, and efficient waste management solutions.
Smash Down Barriers by the Tonga Table Tennis Federation (TTTF), one initiative of Dream Building Fund 2020, has proven the use of table tennis to promote social inclusion of people with a disability (PWD) in remote villages and outer islands of Tonga. The TTTF employs three pillars in the programme: education, competitions, and collaboration. Through regular table tennis exercises, they educate the public and prove the sport skills of PWD could improve their lives.
Pro Sport Development (India) will partner with the ITTF Foundation in developing a ‘Table Tennis for Development’ (TT4D) Handbook, as part of the ITTF Foundation’s ongoing collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). The handbook/toolkit is for coaches and young people demonstrating exercises, sessions and case studies using table tennis for contextualised social development outcomes such as health, education, gender equality and life skills training. The Handbook will also contain a specific module on Ping Pong Diplomacy.
The ITTF Foundation has launched a series of training in two refugee establishments in Leipzig, Germany. The eight-week training session is the pilot of a potential long-term project aiming to bring fun and physical activities to those seeking safety in a country that they have not yet called home.
Parkinson’s Scottish Table Tennis Association which is fully affiliated with Table Tennis Scotland was born in 2020 to expand awareness of the benefits of table tennis in reducing the effects of the disease.
The ITTF Foundation is seeking to commission the development of a handbook/toolkit for coaches and young people demonstrating exercises, sessions and case studies using table tennis for contextualised social development outcomes such as health, education, gender equality and life skills training. The handbook will also contain a specific module on Ping Pong Diplomacy.
The ASA Foundation, one of the six recipients of the Dream Building Fund powered by GSD has hosted a Training of Trainers (ToT) programme in North Jakarta, Indonesia.
In Calarcá, a municipality in the eastern part Quindio in Colombia, Asociación Colombiana De Mujer y Deporte saw a great risk of various social issues for local teenagers. With its education programme, project leader Laura Forero aims to reduce violence, prevent early age pregnancy, combat drugs, and encourage the pursuit of dreams for the underprivileged.
FEMpowerment articles often focus on the obstacles one faces due to gender identity. In Dvorak’s case, her immigrant background possessed a bigger challenge growing up. In this article, the Olympian speaks up, about resilience, self-worth and the right to claim what’s yours.
