They've faced wars, hurricanes and floods, yet they've still managed to make it to Dublin for the Special Olympics.
At the time of writing, delegations from 158 countries were expected in Ireland, while less than 10 had cancelled for a variety of reasons.
Countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone were expected to present difficulties but they overcame political unrest and infrastructural problems to lodge their applications.
"National disasters, tornadoes, hurricanes and flooding have all impacted on our delegations and presented challenges to us," said Ms Liz Callery, Special Olympics director of international services.
Guam and Bermuda withdrew because of natural disasters early in the preparations for the Games. Zambia and Central African Republic also withdrew at an early stage, while Guinea, and Senegal failed to meet the registration requirements.
At the time of writing, Special Olympics organisers were still "very hopeful" that Libya and Mauritania would make it.
Ms Callery said some countries experienced difficulty meeting the registration and visa requirements. While Special Olympics and Department of Foreign Affairs staff did all they could to facilitate the process, the countries still failed to meet the requirements.
"Resources can be a problem for some delegations - not necessarily funding but staff and organisational resources."
The Ivory Coast 24-member delegation only heard last week that its government would fund its trip to Ireland.
A civil war broke out in the west African country after a failed coup last September. About 750,000 have been displaced within the country, while 400,000 have fled abroad.
While a peace accord was signed in January, sporadic fighting continues, and the UN has described the humanitarian situation as "very grave".
"It was very difficult," said Ms Ruth Thornton, vice-president of Special Olympics Côte D'Ivoire. "We only knew at the last minute but we had been organising everything anyway. We had our fingers crossed. I told people: 'This will work, I have a good feeling about it'."
However, due to the conflict in the north of the country, the athletes from the Buake area had to withdraw from the trip to Ireland.
The north of the country is under the control of rebels, while a reconciliation government, which involves three rebel factions, is ruling the area including Abidjan, the economic capital.
The conflict also affected fund-raising because many large companies that would have been approached had pulled out of the country. "We couldn't find any money ourselves because most companies had left because of what was going on," said Ms Thornton
It also affected media coverage of the team's preparations, but organisers distributed pamphlets to make up for the lack of television coverage.
Ms Thornton has already made a trip to Ireland, and visited the Kilkenny town of Callan, host town to Ivory Coast. "I liked it, yes. The people were really nice. I have briefed people on what to expect in Ireland, and I think they will enjoy it very much."
Earlier conflict in Ivory Coast meant that the Special Olympics team was forced to drop out of the 2001 Special Olympic World Winter Games in Alaska.
"It is the only one we have missed. Hopefully, we will bring out some medals this year. We have always brought out medals, wherever we went."
