Photograph by Claire Behan
It takes Dea Çaushi lower than a minute to rework from a violin maestro right into a basketball participant.
One second she is on stage, taking part in a Christmas medley for spectators on the Regional West Balkans Basketball 3×3 Match in Tirana, and the following she is dribbling subsequent to a hoop.
“They go collectively. I play violin and I like sports activities.”
Dea Çaushi
And that’s not all. Dea can also be a part of a dance group for folks with mental disabilities and ceaselessly performs solos at dance recitals.
She began taking part in basketball two years in the past and represented Albania within the girls’s group competitors on the 2023 Particular Olympics World Video games in Berlin.
In Tirana, Dea performed on a blended gender group representing her metropolis Elbasan. The regional match was held as a part of European Basketball Week 2023 and featured eight groups made up of individuals with and with out mental disabilities.
“I like taking part in basketball,” Dea mentioned. “I like to coach. I like once I prepare with my teammates, and what I like most is once I rating three-pointers.”
Whereas Dea can not think about her life with out basketball now, her past love was truly the violin.
Selecting up the instrument for the primary time 5 years in the past, she has since constructed an in depth repertoire that ranges from Christmas jingles and Albanian lullabies to Vivaldi and Mozart.
“It’s powerful taking part in violin, however then again, I take pleasure in taking part in,” she mentioned.
Photograph by Claire Behan
Dea’s love for music additionally interprets into her second musical interest—dance.
She has received a number of awards as a part of a dance group, however even with out different dancers round her or a dance studio to observe in, it’s inconceivable to maintain Dea from beginning to transfer at any time when she hears music.
“She dances at dwelling too,” her mom Arziko Çaushi mentioned. “Dea likes and likewise dances superb.”
It was Arziko who first took Dea to violin, dance and basketball classes.
“I noticed that Dea was just like me, so she regarded as much as me and these are all my passions that I attempted to go on to Dea,” she mentioned.
Signing up for the teachings was simpler mentioned than executed, nonetheless, as academics had been initially hesitant to take Dea as a pupil.
“Once I first launched Dea to the violin trainer, she was skeptical and he or she mentioned, ‘No, I can’t cope with folks with mental disabilities.’ However I used to be like, ‘OK, I invite you to attempt to and see how she will carry out after which say sure or no.’ Dea carried out actually good,” Arziko recalled. “The trainer was amazed by Dea’s expertise, and he or she may be very happy that Dea has excelled though she is a lady with an mental incapacity.”
Photograph by Claire Behan
Whereas academics had reservations in regards to the younger lady, her mom mentioned she by no means had any doubts that Dea might reach something she took up.
Time proved her proper as Dea impressed in all her undertakings. Violin put her on stage in entrance of a global viewers, basketball took her nearly 2,000km away to a multi-sport video games in Berlin, whereas her dancing skills earn her frequent invites to carry out solos at college.
“I by no means gave up as a result of, though the academics doubted her success or the best way to cope with Dea, I by no means doubted Dea’s success. That’s why I’ve at all times been persistent, and I persevered and persevered,” mentioned Arziko, whose favorite piece that her daughter performs is “Spring” from Antonio Vivaldi’s 4 Seasons.
Dea is amongst 14 girls and boys with mental disabilities at her faculty and has turn out to be an instance for all the schoolchildren to observe.
She is diligent in her research and prefers to be unbiased in every part she does.
“Everyone loves Dea as a result of she’s very proficient, she’s very social. She by no means skips lessons,” Arziko mentioned. “Even by the pandemic, she used to trip a bicycle to and from her violin lessons.”
Dea now trains 3 times per week in basketball, and twice per week in each violin and dance.
All this effort goes in the direction of her subsequent large purpose – an even bigger stage for her performances.
“I’d like to be a part of the following Particular Olympics World Video games,” she mentioned. “And I wish to have an even bigger stage for dance and play the violin for a bigger group of individuals.”
So, which one of many three—basketball, violin or dance—does she like greatest?
“Basketball!” Dea exclaims after which goes on to clarify with a giant smile, “I prefer it as a result of I feel it should make me look taller.”
Certainly, scoring a kind of three-pointers she loves a lot can have that impact too.
