"The theme of our event was Break the Barriers

“The theme of our event was Break the Barriers – Play Together”

Uganda Sports Event For Children With Disabilities 2 — Children play rugby at the sports event in Kisubi

Barriers to education, Children with disabilities, Discrimination of marginalised children, Global Youth Ambassadors, Right to education

Daniella Akellot

3 Dec 2017

On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a Global Youth Ambassador from Uganda tells of a special event to bring all children together.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated today and aims to promote the rights and wellbeing of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development.

It also aims to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

The Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services in Uganda (CoRSU) based in Kisubi, Uganda, organises an annual sports event that I fortunately took part in organising this year.

This year the event was held on November 25 on the hospital premises. The aim of the event is to raise awareness about rehabilitation services provided to children with disabilities. The hospital provides life-changing orthopaedic and plastic surgery to under-18s.

Uganda Sports Event For Children With Disabilities 1 — A walk through the community for the children

The theme was “Break the Barriers – Play Together” and over 400 children, both disabled and able-bodied, were in attendance.

The event started shortly after 9am with a walk through the neighbouring community.

Many children, including CoRSU patients, those from orphanages and disability homes, participated in the walk.

The children were joined by their caretakers, CoRSU staff members with their children and members of the community.

Uganda Event For Children With Disabilities Hand Prints — Hand and foot prints make a colourful show of unity

The community walk was followed by sports activities such as tag rugby, crutch football and wheelchair racing. Both disabled and able-bodied children were encouraged to play together.

Other activities that took place included wheel dance competition, painting, a photo exhibition and a raffle draw.

Entertainment was provided by the children themselves showcasing dance moves, miming to songs by local artists and performing original compositions.

Overall, this event demonstrated that when children with disabilities are empowered, they can perform as well as able-bodied children. Disability is not inability.