On this World Disability Day I want to take time to honor all of the People with Disability who are living full lives and not letting anything stop them. I know of three people in Karjanha Village; whenver I see them they are always smiling, no matter how tough it is to travel in an old hand powered wheel chair or walk with a cane. They all have families and full lives.
I think about all of the wheelchair basketball players I've coached in both India and Nepal. Recently for the very first time, guys who I used to coach in Kathmandu went to Bangladesh for an international tournament, including other sports, with India and the host country. I'm sure an amazing experience that will build their confidence, no matter what position they come in.
On Friday I'm going to New Delhi to coach some wheelchair basketball players, but also to learn more from an American and Australian coach. Being connected to the world of disabilities has opened up a variety of opportunities enabling a number of friendships in the US, India and Nepal; something which I never could have imagined when I volunteered at the National Trust in New Delhi from April 2009-February 2012.
World Disability Day is about celebrating the lives of those who don't let something called a disaiblity determine who they are as a person. It might be more difficult to cross the street but in fact those who are so called able bodied need to make changes to create a more inclusive world.
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