15 members of Wheelchair Basketball group off to US on exchange programme

“When I am confronted by a couple of stairs, onlookers offer to ‘help’ and lift my wheelchair up the stairs, carrying me to my destination. In an attempt to help, they strip me of my dignity, confidence and pride. As much as I understand their gesture, I would rather make my own way up a ramp, if it existed, as it would enable me to be hold my own,” said Madhavi Latha P, a national paralympic swimming champion and wheelchair basketball player, stressing on the need for disabled-friendly infrastructure to be a truly inclusive society.

Madhavi, along with 14 other members of WBFI  - including four from TN - will be travelling to Ohio and Washington DC on March 15 to witness series of matches organised by the wheelchair association in the US for two weeks. She said, “We have a lot to learn from the American Disability Act - it entails all the steps required to build a disabled-friendly world.” Father Mathew K Joseph, another patron of the WBFI, who is the president of the Ernakulam District Paralympic Committee in Kerala himself, said, “This exchange program will help coaches learn better training and referee techniques that will help over 100 members of WBFI.” “By bridging borders, we remove barriers so everyone can learn from one another. Members of the wheelchair association in the US are waiting to meet the WBFI coaches and administrators, so they can adapt innovative techniques as well,” said US Consulate General Spokesperson Kathleen Hosie.