The journey, known as the Global Law Enforcement Torch Run (GLETR), started on 12 November 2008 when the flame was lit in Athens, Greece, and will end in Idaho, USA, on 27 January 2009. Idaho will host the 2009 Special Olympics Word Winter Games from 7-13 February.
According to Andrew Pilgrim, Operations Manager of DHL sub-Saharan Africa, the flame's journey is a matter of project management. “Experts from all over the world are working together on the flame's 60 000km trip and we all the different role players together and remove any hurdles.”
Andrew was personally involved in ensuring safe transit of the flame from Germany to South Africa. “Physically transporting the flame was the easy part”, he says. Safely bolted to the bottom of a vented steel box, and escorted by a trained DHL security official with a fire extinguisher, the flame was kept burning inside a miners' lamp en route from Europe to Africa.
The difficult part was obtaining the necessary approvals to take an open flame on board an aircraft and through airport buildings. Fortunately, the airport authorities, civil aviation authorities and customs officials in Germany and South Africa were all very cooperative.
The Flame of Hope arrived in South Africa in the third week of November and was welcomed at ceremonies at the Constitutional Court, in Soweto and finally at the Emmarentia Botanical Gardens, on Sunday 7 December. It was the first time in the 40-year history of the Special Olympics that the flame made its way to sub-Saharan Africa.
According to Phil Couchman, Regional Director of DHL sub-Saharan Africa, the company's sponsorship of the GLETR is a perfect combination of business and humanitarian considerations.
After leaving South Africa, the torch will travel to New Delhi, Shanghai, Miami, New York and Los Angeles. Its final leg will consist of stops in numerous cities in Idaho before it finally lights the cauldron at the Special Olympics opening ceremony on 7 February 2009.
The 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games will host almost 3 000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from more than 100 countries. They will compete in seven winter sport events, namely Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating, floor hockey, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and speed skating.
The public will be able to see photographs and read reports of the Flame of Hope's journey online at http://www.specialolympics.org.
