HERAT -- After a year of being barred from practicing and competing, Herat's disabled women's basketball team has resumed practicing, thanks to support provided by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
UNICEF has pledged to provide full support to the 15-member team.
Nader Shah Haidary, chairman of the Herat Paralympic Federation, said UNICEF has donated 15 standard wheelchairs to the team members and has hired a coach to train them.
"The UNICEF office in Herat has rented a gymnasium to train our athletes. It will pay a monthly stipend of $100 [8,700 AFN] to each athlete," he said.
![Herat's disabled women's basketball team practices at a gymnasium October 15 in Herat city. [Omar/Salaam Times]](/cnmi_st/images/2022/10/25/38142-g_8-739_416.webp)
Herat's disabled women's basketball team practices at a gymnasium October 15 in Herat city. [Omar/Salaam Times]
"Each wheelchair costs more than $1,000 [87,000 AFN] and is very suitable for athletes. UNICEF's timely intervention has saved our disabled women's basketball team from eradication," he added.
Two of the athletes are members of Afghanistan's national paralympic team and others play in Herat's premier league, said Haidary.
Bass Gul Mousawi, 15, a member of the team, said she was very happy that her team has resumed playing and regained spirit and motivation.
"I felt very disappointed when we could not play competitively. The players could not meet up and practice together for almost a year because we were forced to stay at home," she said.
"Now that we can go back to practicing and competing, I feel very proud and happy. I hope we can continue to play and build a better future for ourselves," she added.
"It is a fact that we are disabled, but we proved that we have the same abilities as able-bodied people. No one can underestimate our ability and power," Mousawi said.
Mousawi added that she had lost hope during the year of living at home but now has hope for a better life.
Regaining hope
Members of the team say their disability does not prevent them from playing and that doing so prevents them from burdening their families.
Rehana Rezaei, 24, another team member, said she suffered from depression and anxiety during the year she was forced to stay home, which led to the worsening of her disability.
"The human body needs exercise. Playing sports rejuvenates our soul and spirit. When I play sports with my friends, we enjoy every minute and have a lot of fun," she said.
"The longer I spent time at home, the more I thought I was getting weaker and losing hope. I felt as if I was not a part of society, and I had developed a sense of hopelessness and helplessness."
Since she returned to basketball, she can feel herself regaining hope and aspiration and is much happier now, she said.
Rezaei said she was thrilled to have the opportunity to play again and participate in social activities.
Zahra Mowhad, 20, a member of the Afghanistan national paralympic team and of the women's basketball team in Herat, said playing basketball has elevated her sense of courage.
"If I don't play basketball, I feel more marginalised, and my disability may worsen. When we didn't play basketball for almost a year, I felt weaker every day. If we don't exercise, we will not be able to be independent," she added.
"Since the day I resumed playing, my health has improved by about 80%," she said.
By providing a better environment and the opportunity to play again, UNICEF has given her and her teammates hopes for a bright future, she said.
Raising awareness
In addition to doing physical training and playing basketball, team members are active in a door-to-door campaign twice a week to raise awareness of polio.
All 15 members of the team became disabled from polio.
The team's goal in organising the campaign is to eradicate polio in Afghanistan so that Afghan children will no longer suffer from the disease, said Fatemeh Ghulami, 28, a team member.
"We make efforts to convince families to go to health centres and vaccinate their children so they will not share our fate. As we talk to them ... we manage to convince most of them to vaccinate their children," she added.
Ghulami said she feels very happy when she visits communities and encourages the public to join hands to eradicate polio.
Sabra Alizadeh, 22, another team member, said she contracted the poliovirus because she was not vaccinated in childhood.
As a victim of polio, she said she will spare no effort to save other children.
"Our goal is to not let any Afghan child contract the virus and become paralysed. We will eradicate polio from our country. Many young people suffer from the virus simply because they were not vaccinated."
"As we go door to door, our message is clear. We suffer from the virus because we were not vaccinated. We encourage Afghans to raise healthy children," she said.
While campaigning, they have managed to convince more women who promise they will vaccinate their children, she added.
Alizadeh said polio ruined her life and she does not want other children to suffer from the same preventable disease.
Vaccination has been there for years. I am surprised that even in the twenty-first century, we are still not free from this hideous disease. Their feelings are commendable as they are encouraging others to vaccinate their children and prevent paralysis. I was saddened after reading this report. I feel sorry as our country has not yet succeeded to prevent such a lethal disease.
Reply4 Comment
One wonders as he looks at the 21st century while we are still not getting rid of this ugly disease. Are we not paying attention, or what is the problem? Vaccinations have been around for years. In the last two decades, I have heard from some clerics and villagers that do not vaccinate against polio; this is a conspiracy of the Britons, it makes the males infertile, and this way, they want to lessen the number of Muslims. Oh man, if it were true, no one would have been born, but when he gets married, three children are running after him instead of one. Therefore, it is better to talk clearly. No one heard the words of knowledgeable people. Now they may accept it for the sake of these girls and vaccinate their children regularly so that this disease can be prevented and the person who is disabled and faces all kinds of sufferings in his life can be saved. The existing government and foreign institutions should pay more attention to this part so that people can live and walk on their feet instead of getting paralyzed.
Reply4 Comment
Thank you for this promising report. Until now, my concern was what would happen to Afghans if the polio campaign will not be held this year, because the Taliban and other radical groups oppose this campaign and have extensively tried to contain polio vaccination in the previous years, however, reading this report made me hopeful and happy. It progressively raised my hope for a better and healthy future free from polio. Furthermore, thanks to UNICEF for funding and establishing this national campaign, and so many thanks to the brave girls who, despite all the disarray, pleaded for this campaign and wanted to convey their voices to the whole community and people and encourage them to vaccinate their children.
Reply4 Comment
I was both saddened and became happy to read this report. I am saddened that our country has not yet succeeded in preventing such a deadly disease. I am so glad these young girls have not lost hope and continue their lives and activities. The government and foreign organizations should help such girls and boys to make progress in the academic field. It is evident from their actions that they are talented girls. Their sentiments are also appreciated as they encourage others to vaccinate their children and prevent paralysis.
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