STORY: Tanzanian wheelchair basketballers mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 2, 2024
DATELINE: Dec. 4, 2024
LENGTH: 00:03:12 
LOCATION: DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania
CATEGORY: SOCIETY/SPORTS

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE 1 (Swahili): LEONARD MARANGO, Basketball coach
2. SOUNDBITE 2 (Swahili): BERNADETTA KINYELO, Wheelchair basketballer
3. various of a wheelchair basketball game

STORYLINE:

Twenty-five persons with disabilities on Monday evening played a thrilling wheelchair basketball game in Tanzania's port city of Dar es Salaam as part of celebrations to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, an international observance promoted by the United Nations.

The game started at 6:12 p.m., local time, at the Jakaya M. Kikwete Youth Park, a non-profit, multi-sport facility named after former President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete.

Not long before the game started, the Inclusive Rehabilitation Solution Organization (IRSO), a local non-governmental organization, committed to enhancing the health, social inclusion, and economic empowerment of persons with disabilities, donated basketballs and jerseys.

Amedeus Lemunge, an IRSO project coordinator, said the donation was intended to motivate people with disabilities as they marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is observed annually on Dec. 3.

Leonard Marango, the coach of the club, said he trained the team from Monday through Saturday to motivate and refresh the minds of people with disabilities. "We organized this game ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities so that they can be motivated and feel that they are part of humanity," said Marango, 64, a mechanical engineer.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Swahili): LEONARD MARANGO, Basketball coach
"My team has more than 25 wheelchair basketballers. We are trying to spread this game across the nation."

Bernadetta Kinyelo, 38, a wheelchair basketballer, said she enjoyed playing the game because it gave her confidence and helped her stay in good form. "I started playing wheelchair basketball in 2019. Sport is about happiness and connects me to other people," said the mother of one child and a tricycle taxi driver.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Swahili): BERNADETTA KINYELO, Wheelchair basketballer
"I am a three-wheel motorcycle driver, so I can earn my income. So every morning I go to my job as a driver and at 5 p.m. in the evening I come here to JMK park to train."

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities promotes the rights and well-being of people with disabilities at every level of society and development. It raises awareness of their situation in all political, social, economic, and cultural aspects. 

This year's theme is "Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
(XHTV)