Africa-Press – Botswana. The Paralympics movement was born out of a conscious effort to recognise that sport is a basic right and it is the intention of the movement to provide an enabling and inclusive environment fot people with disabilities to achieve sporting excellence.
Speaking at the Malebogo Max Foundation wheelchair tournament at the UB basketball court on Saturday, Botswana National Olympic Committee’s acting chief executive officer, Tebogo Suping, said apart from giving people with disability a chance to excel in sport, the movement also increased global awareness and helped to drive social inclusion.
Suping also said government recognised the efforts of Malebogo Max Foundation to promote the inclusion of para-sport athletics in the national sporting agenda.
“This is commendable and goes a long way in supporting athletes who might in future represent the county at international games.” Suping also encouraged athletes to strive to embody the tenets of Paralympism.
For her part, Diamond Trading Company Botswana’s (DTCB) senior financial services manager, Pinkie Mothopeng-Makepe encouraged corporates and the rest of society to continue supporting issues around gender based violence through continued conversations on how to eliminate them.
Mothopeng-Makepe said such conversations should be conducted even with adolescents to instil in them the dangers of gender based violence at a young age.
The organiser and founder of the tournament, Malebogo Molefhe said the tournament was organised to showcase talent and present an opportunity for people with disability to be under one roof and celebrate their skills and talents.
“I found it fit to use my experience as a former national team basketball player to raise awareness on the plight of people with disability. We face obstacles as the community does not yet recognise us,” she said.
She said the tournament afforded the able-bodied and those with disabilities to co-exist, saying it would help reduce existing societal stereotypes.
She also said the event gave them a platform to open up on their challenges.
Molefhe applauded DTCB and Debswana Diamond Company for their assistance, saying it was rare as most companies continued to give them a cold shoulder when they sort assistance.
Molefhe said the tournament started in 2017 but regressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shirley Keoagile, the director of Botswana Association for the Deaf, said the gender based violence story was the one that should be told over and over, and that people living with disability would forever be grateful to all those that supported their cause.
“The fact that even people who do not have disabilities came all the way from as far as Jwaneng showed that we are an inclusive country,” she said.
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