{"id":63627,"date":"2023-12-29T18:09:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T18:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=63627"},"modified":"2023-12-29T15:40:48","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T15:40:48","slug":"ugandan-teen-paralympian-enjoys-confounding-stereotypes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/ugandan-teen-paralympian-enjoys-confounding-stereotypes","title":{"rendered":"Ugandan teen Paralympian enjoys confounding stereotypes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>At just 14 she was the youngest Paralympian at the Tokyo Games.<\/b><\/p>\n

And Ugandan swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe faces an equally tough test next year in Paris, but the 16-year-old said she is used to smashing stereotypes — starting with her own mum.<\/p>\n

Born without her right forearm and with an impairment to her left hand, Kukundakwe was three years old when she began paddling in a pool in her local kindergarten.<\/p>\n

“I would just go there, play around, just beat around the water, and I felt nice. I love being in the water,” she said.<\/p>\n

Her mother, however, wasn’t so enthusiastic.<\/p>\n

“In the beginning my mum wasn’t supportive… because she was worried that I won’t be able to swim,” Kukundakwe told AFP.<\/p>\n

“After realising I wasn’t going to stop going into the water, she eventually gave in,” Kukundakwe said on the sidelines of a training session in a suburb of Uganda’s capital Kampala.<\/p>\n

She soon won her first contest, aged nine, racing past able-bodied swimmers.<\/p>\n

“It opened my mum’s eyes that I would do better,” she said, her face lighting up as she recalled the victory.<\/p>\n

Her mother, Hashima Patience Batamuriza, who is now her manager, allowed her to stop using flotation vests, paving the way for a journey that has taken Kukundakwe to the Olympics.<\/p>\n

The teenager never imagined that she would compete on a global stage, despite spending hours in the water every week.<\/p>\n

“It was something I had not looked into because I didn’t know para swimming ever existed or… sports (for) people with disabilities like me,” she said.<\/p>\n

A trip to Kenya’s capital — her first time taking a flight — proved to be a turning point.<\/p>\n

Prior to that, the 11-year-old had only practised alongside able-bodied swimmers.<\/p>\n

In Nairobi, she was surrounded by other disabled athletes.<\/p>\n

“I started feeling comfortable with myself. If people with disabilities more than mine… (could) feel comfortable and confident, doing what they love most and that is swimming, why not me?”<\/p>\n

– ‘Amazing, nerve-wracking’ –<\/b><\/p>\n

She secured a certificate allowing her to participate in international sporting events, later attending a swimming camp in South Korea and eventually competing in the World Para Swimming World Series 2019 in Singapore.<\/p>\n

Then came the icing on the cake: qualifying for the Tokyo Games.<\/p>\n

But the Covid-19 pandemic threw her preparation into disarray as Ugandan authorities ordered swimming pools and gyms to close.<\/p>\n

She started going jogging with her father, a civil engineer, or her older brothers, and began taking swimming lessons on Zoom.<\/p>\n

When the Games were finally held in August 2021, she competed in the SB8 100m breaststroke. She failed to make the final but achieved a personal best time of 1 minute 34.35 seconds.<\/p>\n

She said the experience was both “amazing” and “nerve-wracking because I was competing with Paralympics legends and also meeting my role models face-to-face.”<\/p>\n

Meeting Irish Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane was overwhelming, she said, describing the 28-year-old gold medallist as “someone I pray to be (like) every day of my life”.<\/p>\n

Yet she also knows that she is no less of an inspiration to young Ugandans, particularly those with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Kukundakwe spent years struggling to keep up with able-bodied swimmers, a challenge she turned into an advantage, she said.<\/p>\n

“I worked towards matching their pace to be able to compete against them.”<\/p>\n

But today her sense of purpose extends beyond wanting to win medals.<\/p>\n

“My main goal of going for international events is to inspire people with disabilities, especially the children, to reach their dreams the best they can,” she said.<\/p>\n

– ‘Changed perception’ –<\/b><\/p>\n

It’s an uphill battle in Uganda, where disabled children are sometimes seen as a burden and abandoned by their families.<\/p>\n

According to Uganda’s state-run Equal Opportunities Commission, people with disabilities still face stigma and discrimination, and are often denied access to public services such as health and education.<\/p>\n

A youth ambassador for the International Paralympics Committee, Kukundakwe believes change is coming.<\/p>\n

“When I came back from championships… people would come and say ‘Hi Husnah, welcome back.’ Yet before they would look at me and even stare at me, point fingers,” she said.<\/p>\n

“My career has changed the perception. People no longer look at me as a girl who is disabled but as one travelling the whole world as a professional swimmer.”<\/p>\n

Furthermore, she believes her example is encouraging more disabled Ugandans to take up sports.<\/p>\n

Currently focussed on training for Paris, she also hopes to compete in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

But her ultimate dream is to become a paediatrician, she said.<\/p>\n

“Much as I love swimming, I cannot be in swimming forever.”<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. At just 14 she was the youngest Paralympian at the Tokyo Games. And Ugandan swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe faces an equally tough test next year in Paris, but the 16-year-old said she is used to smashing stereotypes — starting with her own mum. Born without her right forearm and with an impairment to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":63625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-63627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nUgandan teen Paralympian enjoys confounding stereotypes - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At just 14 she was the youngest Paralympian at the Tokyo Games. 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