ANDy's Update on the Sports for Health Project

ANDy's Update on the Sports for Health Project

How ANDY is using sports to give economic independence to young Kenyans with disabilities

A light at the end of the tunnel……

It is like the lights went off and went off for good
Doctor said Emma, you can never see again
and I thought to myself 'I don't want to live another day'
how will I eat, how will I walk
how will I get married?
Is there any hope left for me?

Solomon the wise put it that friends are born for adversity
If it wasn't for a close friend, I would have never met Njeri,
The ANDY swimming coach
something within me knew I could swim
so day by day I got the strength to live
I was taught to swim and with dedication and inner conviction together with opportunity,
I got the wings to fly

slowly by slowly I became the best swimmer
slowly by slowly I gained confidence
slowly by slowly I got off the life of dependence

I began to seize the opportunities that lay before me
Enrolled for entrepreneurial training
drafted a business plan and got approved to receive a loan
and the rest is a dream...
A light at the end of the tunnel

It is a Saturday afternoon
my three children are playing around the house
Am catching up on business news on Telly,
my phone rings 'Hello Emma, are you able to deliver the supplies in a week?'
"of course I can”, i reply
My husband comes in, hugs me and briefs me on the progress made by the salons
"I passed by the salons, the workers are doing brilliant work, it puzzles me how you motivate them"
I chuckle, 'because I can'

Yes there is a light at the end of the tunnel
because I can dare to dream!

A prose detailing a journey of one participant benefiting from ANDY`s Sports for Health Project

When They See Me....

When they see me..

Some of them cry, some of them turn their heads away from me

Not wanting to see the pitiful sight that is me

Some of them throw me out of their shops

While other draw up their car windows in the streets

Thinking that I am a beggar

Out to con them out of their money or beg

When they see me

Some of them cringe

Not wanting to fathom the pain of forever walking on crutches

Forever needing a guide, forever needing a sign language interpreter

I observe the pain in their eyes, the shame they feel and the guilt of their inability to give

When I see them

I see fallacies, misconceptions, and unwillingness to learn

I do not want a pity party

I may be in tattered cloths, hungry and I may not have three meals today

But I have a will power, capacity to learn, sustain myself

When you see me

Teach me how to fish, uplift me with the means of earning a living

Guilt, shame, pity

All these things do not change a thing

Everyday you will look at me, and I will look at you

And all I will ever see is glimmering hope that soon dies out

As soon as you pass me by

The coin you dropped is like a blowing wind

Like bathing water that can only be used once

By CC