His Holiness Pope Tawadros II honored two Egyptian athletes, one of them in the “Boccia Ball” game for people with motor disabilities, who won several championships in this game over the past years. The other is a silver medalist in an international drawing competition.
His Holiness also honoured baseball leaders for their support of people with special abilities.
This came during the weekly Wednesday meeting held this evening at the Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Bishoy in St. Mark’s Cathedral in Abbaseya.
Regarding the boccia ball champion, His Holiness said:
We congratulate Malak Yousry Fouad Gerges, 18 years old, who has a motor disability with a degree of brain atrophy, and he played the game of “boccia ball”, which is considered a sport that is practiced individually or in a team. It relies on strategy and accuracy in playing, and it targets the category of deep motor disabilities, and it is played on a flat, soft, rectangular court. The match takes place between two teams where six coloured balls are distributed to each team and there is a joker ball, and each player tries to throw his balls as close as possible to the joker ball, and the player who collects the most points wins.
Malak won first place in the Egypt Cup Championship with a gold and a silver medal, as well as first place in the Republic Championship in 2018, first place in Port Said Championship in 2020, and first place in the Republic Championship in 2021, he also won the first republic championship twice in 2023, and in doubles he won first place and a gold medal and second place with a silver medal. He traveled to Italy to represent Egypt in the Special Olympics qualifiers that will take place in Paris next year 2024, and he was the representative of the Egyptian national team in these qualifiers.
He was born in December 20, 2005
H.H. gifted him a frame with the verse” “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”‭‭(Genesis‬ ‭28‬:‭15‬ ) on it, and took a memorial picture with him and his family.
As for the young artist Sarah, His Holiness said: “I congratulate the student Sarah Mark Zakher Fanous, who won the silver medal in the “Glimpses of India” competition in 2022, in the secondary stage of Cairo Governorate, and this competition was held by the Indian Cultural Center and the Embassy of India in Egypt, in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Education, 4,600 participants from all educational levels from 431 schools participated in it, as it drew one of the gods of India, which symbolizes success, wisdom and new beginnings, “Ganesha”, and was honored by the Ambassador of India. She also got many positions in the talent competition at the directorate level, and got fourth place in the competition that was held at the Universities Forum, and the logo design competition for the Nuclear Energy Authority last year.
She gifted H.H. a portrait that she drew and ah.H. gifted her a frame with the verse “do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.”(Genesis‬ ‭26‬:‭24‬) .
She is from Saint Mary Language School, Helwan.

His Holiness honored Major General Ibrahim Al-Sharif, the supervisor and general coordinator of the Arab and Egyptian Baseball Federation, and Ms. Reda Mahmoud Farghali, President of the Egyptian Baseball Association, for coordinating with the Cultural Center to train people with special needs and support them to represent Egypt in international baseball tournaments.
The children of the Coptic Church, through the Coptic Cultural Center, are scheduled to participate in the international tournament in Ghana next month, and this tournament qualifies for the World Cup.

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