Wheelchair Athletes Worldwide in Nepal May 7-14
Sports clinics on May 10-11 and tournament on May 12
Including donation of 11 Sports Wheelchairs
Covered Hall, Tripureshwor, Kathmandu
10 AM-4 PM; Public Invited
First Time Nepal will have Sports Wheelchairs for Basketball and Rugby
A group of Nepali NGOs are organising a wheelchair basketball clinic and tournament from May 10-12. Wheelchair Athletes Worldwide (WAW) will donate 11 sports wheelchairs for the event, which is being funded entirely from in-kind corporate donations.
Wheelchair Athletes Worldwide (WAW)[1], a small American NGO, is partnering with a variety of Nepali NGOs including Nepal Wheelchair Rugby Association (NWRA), Nepal Spinal Cord Injury Sports Association, Nepal Physiotherapy Association, Bikash Nepal, VSO Nepal, ENGAGE[2] (providing volunteers), CSRC (providing accommodation), the government through Nepal Paralympic Committee and the National Sports Council, who provided an in-kind donation of the Covered Hall, Nepal Army (transportation) as well as, a variety of corporates including DRAGONAIR/Cathay Pacific providing free transport of 11 donated sports wheelchairs from Los Angles to Kathmandu, Chaudhary Group (CG Foundation), providing Wei-Wei and soft drinks, gold medals for all athletes and a banner, the Himalayan providing four advertisements, Bottlers Nepal, providing soft drinks, International College of Hospitality Management (ICHM) providing meals, Media Gallery providing advertisement design, FORCE providing a TV Show and Nature Trail Travels and Tours providing transportation for wheelchair athletes.
This entire activity has been accomplished through only in-kind donations. The event provides more opportunities as per the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), as well as the beginning of infrastructure, through the donation by WAW of sports wheelchairs. This event, combined with recent Danish training, will be used as a springboard for developing further capacity amongst players and coaches of wheelchair sports. For Nepali society this provides the public with another forum for understanding that Persons with Disabilities are no different in their desires than anyone else, in the long run leading to more inclusion. Combining with corporates as a CSR activity, this event has huge implications for Nepali society and further integrating Persons with Disabilities into the mainstream.
The major goal of the Nepal project is to improve and strengthen the mental, physical, and social outlook and build capacity of Persons with Disabilities in Nepal, as well as, encouraging the public to become involved in creating more inclusion. This will be done by:
1) providing modern, competitive, newer sport wheelchairs to use in adaptive sports programs; 2) conducting interactive clinics and demonstrations; and 3) inviting the public to attend.
Dan Altan, President of WAW will be coming to Nepal. “In Nepal athletes with disabilities and participants are often ostracized and face significantly greater challenges than the general population. From some of the feedback we have received, it seems that the wheelchairs and equipment currently available for the participants to use are severely outdated, not sports appropriate, and limited in number. Funds for acquiring updated and new wheelchairs seem to be almost non-existent. By providing modern, competitive, sport wheelchairs to an adaptive sports program, we feel there is a good chance of increasing the total number of participants, and to noticeably improve the physical, mental, emotional, and social strength and outlook of the disabled participants.”
Greg Hockensmith, a wheelchair athlete, who also attended the India programme said “It is our belief that with active and regular involvement in an adaptive sports program, participants should see increased physical fitness and strength, a more positive and hopeful outlook regarding their lives, possibly an increase in physical and mental independence, greater social interaction (not only within the disabled community but within the general population), improved physical skills and possibly a desire to compete at a National or International level, greater self-confidence, and of course more smiling and having FUN!”
BaharatKarkee, the General Secretary of the NWRA, who attended wheelchair rugby training during November 2012 in Korea, is excited about the prospect of getting training and receiving sports wheelchairs, “Through the kindness of DRAGONAIR/Cathay Pacific I was able to attend training in Korea during November, 2012. Now through the kindness and commitment of WAW, Nepal will be provided with the equipment and training needed to upgrade our skills in wheelchair basketball, rugby and other wheelchair sports.”
For further information contact: Michael Rosenkrantz, mikerlakers@yahoo.com, 9801082797
WAW in India with Aamir Khan (Nov. 2011) Nepal Army Wheelchair Bball Team
Recent Training through Nepal Spinal Injury Sports Association
Sports Wheelchairs in Los Angeles and in Nepal (First Time Ever)
Nepal Wheelchair Basketball/Table Tennis Photos
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201082296245484.1073741834.1410846536&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200340853629882.274174.1410846536&type=3
Videos of Nepal Wheelchair Athletes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IC7LNvloI0&feature=youtu.be Himal-Wheelchair Athlete
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnyE_z0Wf6w Bharat-Wheelchair Athlete
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiAV0OBobOM Interview with Mike, Wheelchair BBALL Coach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMyhjE_tcOk Interview with Danish Wheelchair BBALL Coach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUj63Gj5GL4 Danish wheelchair sports project
http://usicd.org/detail/event.cfm?event_id=332&id=182
http://basketball.asia-basket.com/Nepal/news/WAW_Wheelchair_Sports_Clinic_in_Nepal/315636
[1]From November 25-27 2011 Wheelchair Athletes Worldwide (WAW), the National Trust and Empowering Spinal Cord Injured Persons conducted two clinics and donated six sports wheelchairs to Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust, an inclusive school, in New Delhi and held one clinic and donated six sports wheelchairs to The Ability People, a Disabled People’s Organisation in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.Participating in the clinic on November 25 was Aamir Khan as he was filming a segment about disability for the SatyamevJayateTelevision Show. Participating in the clinic on November 26 was Kenny Natt, a former professional coach and basketball player, who at that time was the coach of the Indian Men’s National Basketball Team. It was the first time that Kenny had played basketball in a wheelchair. This was the first WAW project.
[2] ENGAGE Corps Sport will be launched, a part time, flexible volunteering service experience managed by ENGAGE. The ENGAGE Corps members will be trained to become volunteer coaches and each of them will be assigned a group of wheelchair athletes. This is a simple way to forge new forms of friendship based on equality and mutual learning between volunteers and athletes.
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I always admire wheelchair
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