the goan I network
PANAJI
A two kilometer “wheelchair run” will take place in Goa for the first time on Sunday January 13, as part of a marathon organised by an NGO to raise awareness in society about inclusivity. The run will take place at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium, and is set to see between 10 and 15 persons with reduced mobility in their lower limbs participate.
Being the first time such a run is being organised in the state, those participating in the wheelchair run will have volunteers pushing the wheelchairs, as though participants are used to walking with crutches, they are not adept with the use of a wheelchair.
Initially planned as a regular run of five, seven and fourteen kilometers for experienced runners, with the aim to raise funds for the different causes of the NGO “I-Help”, the addition of the two kilometer wheelchair run came about when the Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) approached “I- Help” and expressed their desire to also be a part of the run. The youngsters who run the NGO agreed to this proposal as they felt that “no one in society should
feel left out.”
Said a member of the NGO who did not wish to be named, “We hope to send out a message that everyone is equal in society, and that though we all face different challenges, we need to help each other out.”
Meanwhile, Avelino De Sa, the president of DRAG told ‘The Goan’, “We’ve been wanting to participate in a run for a long time. It’s happening at last. We do hope that the run helps create awareness about inclusion, and the challenges faced by persons with disability.”
As for the funds raised at the run, these will go to the NGO’s several initiatives like planting trees and tending to them, (they have planted and tended to 42 trees over the last two years), reaching out to under-privileged sections of society through activities that have been specially designed for different sections of society like orphans, old aged homes and slums, and a self-defence programme for girls.
UNIQUE INITIATIVE
A two kilometer “wheelchair run” will take place in Goa for the first time on January 13, as part of a marathon organised by an NGO to raise awareness in society about inclusivity
The run will take place at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium, and is set to see between 10 and 15 persons with reduced mobility in their lower limbs participate
Being the first time such a run is being organised in the state, those participating in the wheelchair run will have volunteers pushing the wheelchairs, as though participants are used to walking with crutches, they are not adept with the use of a wheelchair
