Meet Purity: Athletes, Unified Partners and Families Light the Flame of Hope in Kenya! (Part 2)
During the Global Week of Inclusion, Special Olympics Kenya reflected on the legacy of the World Games Abu Dhabi 2019.
For Special Olympics Kenya, it’s evident that their athletes and Unified Partners were protagonists of provoking conversations and building inclusive communities in their own way. They put together the following stories highlighting some of the moments where athletes and their families lit the flame of hope in communities where none existed.
Meet Ledama
Ledama is a Unified Partner in Handball, who joined Special Olympics Kenya through an invitation by his friend and teammate Daniel Wanjala, an athlete of Special Olympics Kenya, University of Nairobi Club.
Ledama hails from Narok North, Rift Valley region. In his Masai community, people have a perception that having a child or children with disability is a bad omen or curse. Such families are shielded from community engagement and participation, and historically this stigma forces them to throw away such a child, to be eaten by wild animals or dogs.
In the Narok community, there are no programs that take care of people with disabilities and if they are there, initiative has not been taken to bring people with disabilities and those without together, in the way Special Olympics has done.
For Ledama’s family, they encouraged him to embrace the team and create strong ties and make friends, because they too are God’s creation. With blessings from his family, Ledama became a team player and gave his total support to his Unified Handball team.
Through his training at the residential camp in Nairobi and the competition period in Abu Dhabi, Ledama discovered that Special Olympics has no discrimination, tribalism or gender inequality.
He made many close friends, and slowly discovered that the athletes in his team were no different than him. He admired their determination to master skills trained by the coaches, and this really made him develop a special admiration for the athletes.
A hero returns home
During his home coming party, the Narok community was shocked to find out that Ledama’s Handball team consisted of people with and without disabilities. The shock came as a result that it was hard to notice any difference between the athletes and partners. This is also as a result of their perceived ideas that people with disabilities are not capable of doing anything, especially in sports.
The good news is that all that has changed because of Ledama’s participation in the Special Olympics World Games. His community has now embraced the idea and witnessed change through Ledama. They are ready to create more opportunities for all people living with disabilities to bring a more inclusive, positive community life.
The local radio station has also promised to rally behind Ledama by holding campaigns to sensitize the community about giving people living with disabilities equal opportunities and chances in life. Also, the local vernacular radio station is working on holding a local football match to bring people together to educate them on accepting and including people living with disabilities in the community.
