‘Russian Challenge’ to help bring up Down’s kids

A charity ski race called ‘Russian Challenge’, has been organised in one of Moscow's parks to help raise funds for children with Down’s Syndrome. Another aim was to draw public attention to the problems of these children.

All the money raised from the ticket sales will go to programmes aimed at improving the lot of children with Down's Syndrome and helping them adapt to everyday life.

“The charitable fund ‘Downside Up’  is now the only specialised organisation in Russia that offers free help to families with children who have Down's Syndrome,” says one of its members.  

Downside Up's mission is to improve the quality of life for those children.

There's a belief that children with Down's Syndrome have no learning skills and cannot adapt to normal social life, but this is not true.

The mother of one of the children says many think they are aggressive and are unable to learn.

“My child is so kind and responsive. I do see that she makes progress in learning things. These kids are not mentally disabled. This is such a lie,” she says.  

Specialists have proven that while Down's Syndrome children do have a genetic anomaly, they are not mentally disabled.

One thing is for sure – they need more help and attention.