Wheelchair ball, new hope for disabled Afghan women
1 Nov 2014 4:55 AM IST
Clashing wheelchairs, hooting supporters and balls swishing through hoops brought a drab grey court in downtown Kabul alive Wednesday, in the final of the country’s third annual competition organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
At the end of the forty minutes of play, the scoreline read Mazar-i-Sharif 26, Kabul 9 -- but for many of the athletes who took part it was also a personal triumph over years of adversity.
Mariam Samimi, a member of the winning side, was just six when she stepped on undetonated ordnance in her native northern province of Balkh, blowing off her toes.
It was 1996 and the height of Afghanistan’s civil war, when prosthetics and good medical treatment were in short supply.
Now a trained social worker as well as a competitive athlete, the 23-year-old said she wanted others to know that a disability does not mean having to give up on your dreams.
‘Don’t be disheartened, always have courage, and do not say I can’t do it. Be confident all the time, don’t feel that you are disabled and (that) I should be at home,’ she said.
Afghanistan has been at war since 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded to prop up the communist government. After the Soviets withdrew in 1989, a civil war began. The hardline Taliban seized power in 1996 but were ousted in 2001 by a US-led coalition.
The Taliban have waged a guerrilla war ever since against Afghan and foreign troops. The country is one of the world’s most heavily mined nations, with dozens of people still killed or maimed every month.
It is also one of just three countries where polio is still a problem, due to the disruption of health services and Taliban opposition to vaccination.
At the end of the forty minutes of play, the scoreline read Mazar-i-Sharif 26, Kabul 9 -- but for many of the athletes who took part it was also a personal triumph over years of adversity.
Mariam Samimi, a member of the winning side, was just six when she stepped on undetonated ordnance in her native northern province of Balkh, blowing off her toes.
It was 1996 and the height of Afghanistan’s civil war, when prosthetics and good medical treatment were in short supply.
Now a trained social worker as well as a competitive athlete, the 23-year-old said she wanted others to know that a disability does not mean having to give up on your dreams.
‘Don’t be disheartened, always have courage, and do not say I can’t do it. Be confident all the time, don’t feel that you are disabled and (that) I should be at home,’ she said.
Afghanistan has been at war since 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded to prop up the communist government. After the Soviets withdrew in 1989, a civil war began. The hardline Taliban seized power in 1996 but were ousted in 2001 by a US-led coalition.
The Taliban have waged a guerrilla war ever since against Afghan and foreign troops. The country is one of the world’s most heavily mined nations, with dozens of people still killed or maimed every month.
It is also one of just three countries where polio is still a problem, due to the disruption of health services and Taliban opposition to vaccination.
Next Story
