Some 200 people chosen as volunteer leaders for the 2008 Olympic
equestrian event on Saturday joined in a ceremony which kicked off
the Hong Kong equestrian volunteer program.
The leaders, who are fluent in Cantonese, mandarin Chinese and
English, will take part in a two-day course to learn basic
knowledge on the event. The volunteers will be deployed to a myriad
of responsibility areas ranging from competition venues to
translation to media support, said the organizers.
At the ceremony, the equestrian company's chief executive
officer Lam Woon-Kwong reminded the volunteer leaders that they
should be aware that they are serving on the very front-line as
goodwill ambassadors and that they are making part of the Olympic
history.
Each volunteer was given a "smile wristlet", a token of their
unity with other Chinese host cities. Following the ceremony,
volunteers will receive some 80 hours of training, including
residential training, which will be held in Pl Leung Kuk holiday
camp in Sai Kung for two consecutive weekends in March.
The leadership training programs are tailored for volunteers in
Hong Kong by expert trainers. Riordan, who also trained volunteers
at the Athens and Sydney Olympic Games, said the training program
is not simple despite it comes with just one Olympic event.
"The reality is that the equestrian event will be held far away
from Beijing and in a separated environment. We need to have
volunteers trained to greet guests from the airport, Olympic
village and the transport hubs. It like putting on a mini-Olympics,
" he said.
(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2007)