NNPC recruits athletes with dwarfism

WINDHOEK – The Namibia National Paralympic Committee (NNPC) has answered the call of deputy sport minister Agnes Tjongarero to include people with dwarfism in its pool of athletes.

In November 2016, Tjongarero called on the NNPC to start scouting for people living with dwarfism, and get them involved in sports.

Rovisa Petrus, Nathalia Kambo and Celvia Shivolo are the new recruitments, and are being trained in shot put and discus throwing.

Petrus and Kambo told Nampa on Wednesday that they have been in training for the last two months.

“I never did sports in school, and when I joined the NNPC, it was my first time stepping onto the field to do sports. All I did at school was compete in cultural dances,” Petrus said.

Kambo, who also competed in cultural activities before, told this agency that she found the going tough when she started training at the beginning of the year.

“I never had the courage to do sports because I did not see people of my height competing with taller people. But when I was advised by Ms Jo-Ann Manuel that I can do sports with people of my size, I decided to give it a shot,” she enthused.

Manuel is the deputy director of marginalised people and women in sport in the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service.

Out of the three athletes, only Shivolo is employed. She is a petrol attendant at the Puma service station in Windhoek’s Greenwell Matongo residential area, and trains when her shifts allow.

The other two athletes said it was not easy to convince their relatives to allow them to do sports instead of looking for jobs.

“Our families were not happy when we said we are going to do sports. My mother asked if I will get paid for what I was going to do, and when I said no, she told me it was a waste of time,” said Petrus.

Kambo, however, said after training for two months, their families are starting to warm up to the athletes’ choices.

The athletes are expected to travel to South Africa with the NNPC to compete in the 2018 South Africa Nedbank national championships for physically disabled which will be held in Bloemfontein from 28 March to 03 April. – Nampa.

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