Amputees win medals and respect in Ethiopia

Ethiopian Winners

• Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

• Twenty LSN-Ethiopia survivor-clients and staff participated in a sports competition for people with disabilities from May 9-14, 2005. Delegation Leader and Ethiopia Network Director Bekele Gonfa spurred the LSN team to victory, with an impressive 34 medals -- 14 gold, 10 silver, and 10 bronze. Hosted by the Addis Ababa Sports Federation for the Disabled, the competition featured participants from 28 organizations and allowed survivors the opportunity to interact and socialize with many other people with disabilities from throughout Ethiopia. Events such as this sports competition are extremely important as they showcase the abilities of people with disabilities. Sports at the competition included soccer, volleyball, basketball, athletics, weightlifting, table tennis, and tug of war. The LSN team won a majority of the medals available in the athletic competitions and the hotly contested tug-of-war event.
  Landmine survivors earn medals and pride in Ethiopia.LSN Ethiopia Outreach Workers Yonas Fekadu and Asamnew Negash coordinated the participation of the LSN team. “The greatest fun in the competition was the tug-of-war event,” said Fekadu. “Most of our competitors were leg-amputees, many competing on one leg. The ground was very muddy, making it great fun for the competitors and spectators as we slipped and slid in the mud.” “The athletics competition was the most exciting part of the competition,” said Negash, “because LSN staff and survivors won most of the medals!” Samuel Abebe, an above the knee amputee and LSN survivor-client, was given a special award for being Sportsman of the Year. Abebe competed in the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter races, javelin, and weightlifting competitions. Abebe won gold medals in all events except javelin, where he won the silver.
  The LSN Ethiopia team at the sports event in May.In addition to organizing LSN-Ethiopia’s participation, Outreach Workers Fekadu and Negash also competed well in many events. Fekadu participated in the 20-meter race, javelin, and shot put, and won the shot put gold medal. Negash competed in the 100-, 200-, and 1500-meter races, javelin, and shot put. He won 2 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze medal. Said Network Director Bekele Gonfa after the competition, “I am so pleased with the success of LSN’s team, but more than that, I am glad that LSN-Ethiopia has been able to encourage survivors to participate in so many different sports. I hope we can assist survivors in their training so that they may be part of the 2008 Paralympic Team for Beijing.”