Haiti’s Paralympics dream (the Baptist Times 29/08/2012)

Hopes are high that the forthcoming Paralympic games will prove a watershed moment for people with disabilities in Haiti.
Thanks to significant backing from several UK Christians and Christian organisations Haiti has sent a team to the Paralympics for the first time.

Their athletes include Josue Cajuste, throwing in the javelin and the shot put F42 class, while Nepthalie Jean Louis (pictured) is earmarked both for the javelin and the discus F54 class.

Carwyn Hill, co-founder of the Haiti Hospital Appeal (HHA) charity, has been a key figure in ensuring the athletes are here. He believes their presence can have a profound effect on removing the stigma that people with disabilities face back in Haiti, where they are often called ‘Cocoabi’, which means ‘worthless’.

‘They face physical and verbal abuse,’ Carwyn explained. ‘But we hope that seeing world class athletes will help to challenge the belief that people with disabilities are worthless.

‘We also want to inspire, encourage and empower those with disabilities . ’ HHA is one of the founders of The Dream, an international campaign to encourage positive change in attitudes and behaviour towards people with disabilities, and which has worked alongside the National Paralympic Committee of Haiti in facilitating the athletes coming here.

HHA has been providing quality healthcare in north Haiti since 2006, and following the earthquake of 2010 it opened a rehabilitation centre for people with spinal cord injuries. Through this it discovered that sport was a useful way of empowering those who had been injured, and reintroducing them back into the community. This prompted Carwyn and the team to dream of the possibility of bringing a Haitian team to the London 2012 Paralympics.

BMS World Mission, already a HHA partner, and the charity Global Hands got on board and a new movement, The Dream, was officially launched in September 2011. The Dream has worked to provide funds for the Haitian athletes to compete in London, and to secure the television rights in order to broadcast the Paralympics in Haiti for the first time. Tangible benefits already in place include the building of a sports centre at the HHA, which will open next month.

Josue and Nepthalie arrived in the UK earlier this month, where they met Haitian Olympian Samyr Laine, a 2012 triple jump finalist. Samyr said, ‘This is the beginning of a dream come true and something bigger for the nation.’

BMS mission educator co-ordinator the Revd Gareth Wilde, who has been involved in The Dream campaign, agreed, adding more needed to be done. ‘More dreams are needed to eradicate the stigma of disability from countries like Haiti,’ he said.

Carwyn added that while Haiti was a focus for The Dream, the campaign was working to raise the issue worldwide. ‘We also want to challenge the international community in its attitude towards people with disability, and highlight the challenges that people with disability across the world face every day.’

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