Very inspiring indeed.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Abdul Razique" <1988.ab...@gmail.com>
To: <accessindia@accessindia.org.in>
Sent: Friday, May 08, 2009 10:11 AM
Subject: [AI] FW: LOST MY SIGHT BT NOT MY VISION...very inspiring take
yourvaluable time to nt jus read it EMBRACE IT
Hello list members,
Do read this inspiring interview.
"I Have Lost My Sight but I Have Not Lost My Vision"
Interview with Henry Wanyoike
Henry(left) and his guides celebrate his world record in the 10,000 meters
at the Athens Paralympics, 2004 [©Light for the World] SGI Quarterly: What
has been your biggest challenge and struggle in life?
Henry Wanyoike: To me the biggest challenge is to have been born and raised
poor, and to come out of that has been very difficult. And as a disabled
person, to be accepted by society is not easy. Also, even though I have four
world records it has been difficult to convince people that I can do
promotion for them, and it is not easy to buy shoes or other training
attire. To travel out of my area is not easy because the roads are not good.
And the training--I have to stop when it is raining because it is very
slippery and muddy.
SGIQ: I understand you suddenly lost your sight more or less overnight due
to a viral infection.
HW: I lost my sight in 1995. Before that I was good at athletics, and I used
to represent my school at the national championships in Kenya and win
trophies and certificates. My biggest dream was to be a champion, and to put
Kenya on the map. But after losing my sight nobody believed that I could go
out again and run.
I stopped from 1995 until 1999. Then I joined a rehabilitation center, and I
came to understand that even people with a disability can do great things.
One of the games teachers said, "Henry, you told me you have been very good
in athletics. We don't want you to sit on your talent." I asked how I could
be able to run if I can't see where I'm stepping, where I'm going, but he
taught me how to run with a guide. I'm full of scars in the hands and my
legs and face because of falling down, but I never stopped, I never gave up,
because I really wanted to be a champion. To be a champion, there is a cost
for everything. That's what I believe. There is nothing you can get easily,
you need to sweat, you need to struggle to achieve. I always believe that
man's achievement or failing to achieve his goals is a result of his own
fault.
SGIQ: Now when running, do you still feel frightened sometimes?
HW: When we are running and the road is uneven and full of potholes, I feel
frightened because I feel like I might fall down. If I don't trust my guide
I cannot run, so I tried very much to develop trust, as he plays a very
great role. So I believe I'm in safe hands, with someone who is responsible,
very kind and very patient.
SGIQ: I read the story about the Sydney Paralympics when your guide couldn't
continue and you had to drag him to the finish.
Victory in Sydney against all odds [Courtesy of Henry Wanyoike] HW: My
guide was not able to run, as he was recovering from malaria but I was
telling him, "No, no, we can make it," pushing him toward the finish. In
fact I only just missed the world record. . . . That was my first
international competition, so it was not easy for me. At that time I didn't
know how to choose the best guide. Everybody was cheering me, telling me
which direction to go because my guide could not. So I was listening to the
spectators shouting, "Henry, Henry, Henry!" "Keep left, keep right, keep
straight!"
SGIQ: How important is it to you to win?
HW: I believe I have to win because of the training I undergo every day. I
have to be very well disciplined, to wake up very early in the morning, run
for two, three hours, and sometimes we ride our bicycles for more than 60 km
every day and then again in the evening, running, training. Winning to me
means a lot as it's seeing the fruits of hard work. If you work hard, you
will always get a reward, that is what I believe.
SGIQ: For people with disabilities or depression or other problems, would
you encourage them to try running?
HW: I believe running, like all sports, can give you more courage and
prevent you from thinking too much about your problems. When I'm running, I
don't see my blindness, my disability. I even celebrate my blindness. I
always see success. Every year I have two birthdays, my actual birthday and
the day when I lost my sight and started a new life.
For disabled people, if you sit there and tell yourself you cannot make it,
then you will not be fully accepted by society because you are not showing
people that you can do things. When you are involved in sports, it's easy
for you to convince people that you can make it in life. Through my running,
for example, in Kenya I have changed the lives of many people, and even now
society is accepting disabled people in the country because of what they
have seen me doing. Now the Disability Bill has been passed in parliament,
and I'm very happy about that. The time has come for opportunities, not for
sympathy. We need to show the world that disability is not inability! We are
capable of doing things.
SGIQ: I heard that you're now working toward tackling the triathlon.
HW: Yes. I always want to have challenges in my life, and now I'm taking
swimming lessons. And I believe after the triathlon I will go straight to
the Ironman. I want to show that we are very, very much capable. I want to
show that if I can make it in sports, then in another profession it will
also be easier for me.
Training in Kenya [©Jörg-Henning Meyer] When you finish a marathon, you
have more courage and confidence to do anything in life. I compare life with
a marathon. There are always ups and downs, and so many curves--it's a long
way. We should never give up. And we should go at our own pace.
I also believe in giving back to the community. Now we are raising funds for
one million people with cataracts and eye problems to receive operations.
More than 20,000 cases have been attended to--people who now have sight
where they could have been blind all their life. I want to show if you are
blessed, it's always good to stretch your heart and remember those who have
not yet realized their dreams.
I'm also working with schools to plant trees. I'm calling it "Children with
Trees." I'm encouraging all schools in Kenya, every child, to plant a tree.
So far we have planted more than 100,000 trees
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