Typically I like to sleep late on weekends, but the mornings
are when I play and coach basketball.
From March 2009-Februrary 2012 I coached basketball on Saturday nights at
the Delhi YMCA. But in Nepal, the basketball
action seems to happen in the mornings. I
came to Nepal as a VSO volunteer in June and most recently on Sundays I wake up at 6:30
AM, my friend Raj Kumar picks me up at 7 and by 7:30 we are on the courts at Arunodaya
Academy in Swoyambhu, waiting for the team to roll in from their home about one
kilometer away.
I see the smiles on the guy’s faces as their attendants
lift/roll them down the stairs to get to the courts, many of them with their
urine bags attached to their wheelchairs. I see the amazement of the children at
Arunodaya Academy as they watch the guys play basketball. This
is no ordinary basketball team, but is an Army wheelchair basketball team,
showing up with the same enthusiasm of any other athletic team, ready to take
on all opponents. These guys are
different as they can’t jump for rebounds or shoot a jump shot, can’t run up
and down the court, although in their wheelchairs they can move fairly quickly,
but not as efficiently as someone in a specialized sports wheelchair. These guys can set a pick, although sometimes
their chairs get tangled up, can play defense, although sometimes their leg
rests extend out too far and can shoot a
basketball on a regulation hoop, although sometimes their shots are way off
because they can’t get the same lift as someone who can jump. The athletes on this team can even “run”
plays, do a three person weave and make layups.
This team is full of young guys, who might have been injured
in the Maoist conflict, injured by a land mine and spent years in a hospital
rehabbing, or maybe they were injured in a car accident or fell and injured their spinal cord to the point
where they could no longer use their legs to walk. Some of these guys are married, have children
and want to be productive members of Nepali society. Those who are married, have incredible wives
who have overcome prejudice and who as one wife told me, “look beyond
disability”, who are strong women in their own right, enduring sometimes years
of a family not accepting their husband
and his “fate”.
The guys on this team and other persons with physical
disabilities tell me that without sports they would be depressed, have bed
sores, have little exposure to society and have problems such as urinary tract
infections. These guys are artists,
weight lifters, advocates for themselves and other Persons with
Disability. These guys and their wives struggle
to live a life like any other couple.
But there are also the guys who can’t find a wife because they are in a
wheelchair, can’t find a job, which is most of these guys, because employers
won’t give them an opportunity, even though there is nothing wrong with their
minds, their arms or their eye site.
While in India, working for the National Trust, Ministry of
Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, I learned a lot about
Persons with Developmental Disabilities .
One of the popular words coined by our Joint Secretary was “Discoverabilities”, i.e. looking beyond
a person’s disability to truly discover their abilities and is based on society
being inclusive and providing opportunities.
I saw a full range of Persons with Disability doing the same thing as
anybody else in society, having the same
aspirations, but needing more accessibility and opportunity in order to
live out their dreams. But I also heard
a lot about the myths as to why someone had a disability. At the National Trust we worked a lot on
overcoming these myths through an all India discoverability
awareness campaign known as Badhte Kadam.
The fourth year of this campaign was completed in November 2012 by the
National Trust throughout India.
I recently attended the first “Career Expo for Persons with
Disability” in Nepal, a good start. Through
my association with Persons with Disability I know that a lot more is needed for the athletes on “my
team”. I know that these guys need to be
recognized for their talents, need to have opportunities to participate in sports
on a regular basis, have a job to go to in order to earn for themselves and
their families, for those not married they need opportunities to find a woman to
marry, but mostly they need, like all of us, to have dreams, which society will
help them to achieve.
The athletes on “my team” inspire me, just for who they are
and what they are trying to do. I
complain to myself when I miss a shot or make a bad pass, but the reality is
that even as I get older I can still jump
a rebound or shoot a jump shot.
Maybe I can’t run as fast or am not as quick as I once was, but for the
guys on “my team” they just keep rolling on, and hopefully we can help them to
discoverabilities.
[1]
Michael is a VSO volunteer working at both VSO Nepal and Community
Self-Reliance Centre in Dhapasi. His
primary role is to build new partnerships, specifically in the corporate and
media sectors for both organisations.
When not working you can usually find Michael on the basketball courts
either playing or coaching. You can
reach Michael at mikerlakers@yahoo.com
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