Grab A Beer, Adopt A Para Athlete - Here's How You Can Help A Differently Abled Sportsperson Realise His Or Her Dream

¡°I never dreamed of supporting a hero in person, how could we not support a person who holds the national record for 100m!¡° says a donor who supported Saheb Hussain, an athlete with visual impairment for over a year. But the dispassionate, realistic question still persists - how can we render the same support to a regional para-athlete?

The precise figures are as follows - 190 competitors and 72 medals compared to 570 competitors and 69 medals. The former is the tally for the 2018 para-Asian games and the latter indicates the tally for the able-bodied Asian Games in the same year. Seems strange, doesn't it? Actually it's not! Indian Paralympics has been performing extremely well for a very long time, making the country immensely proud, but the bitter truth remains - how many of us actually know about the unsung Paralympic heroes? Unfortunately, very few and the picture remains bleak as ever! Despite the staggering 37.8% success rate in the para-Asian games, compared to just 12% of the abled-bodied Asian Games of 2018, no real recognition is attributed to these champions and unfortunately, the regional/state affairs present an even more tragic picture. Despite Bengal paralympians' extreme abilities and consistently outstanding performances, they remain at their most vulnerable and clearly at the receiving end as far as the question of support and infrastructure is concerned. It's time we realise the gravity of the apathetic condition and acknowledge that that they have endured quite enough.

The para athletes have always been facing grave obstacles at both the social and personal frontiers. Sadly, even the Right to Persons with disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2017 along with all its all possible attributed clauses did not bring any change or make any real difference in this tragic state of affairs. Considering the average income of a Bengal Para-athelete's four member family is only around Rs 8,000, the issue of their survival in competitive sports becomes even more thought provoking. Hence, it is time to help them transcend those barriers and rise above the challenges and enable them to make a mark on the sports map of India.

CWF

In the aforesaid context, a program known as ¡°Adopt a para-athlete¡± becomes quite pertinent. The program was started in August 2017 by Civilian Welfare Foundation, a non-profit working on Gender, Disability and Child Education which was later supported by Five Mad Men (FMM), a sports bar that chose to support Bengal Paralympics holistically, not solely confined to charitable activities.

Sayan Roy and Sourav Sinha - the Co-owners of Five Mad Men insist, ¡°We came together from different service sectors to practically create a business and to contribute something to the society from our profits right from the very start. Since it's a sports pub, we had several discussions to understand the logistics and came to the conclusion that India has a slow mental growth for sports and a lower aptitude to comprehend its significance, which is what needs to be addressed and changed. So, we thought why not help transform the perception for regional Paralympics?¡±

The Adopt a para-athlete program is the first initiative in India in which any individual can directly support an athlete with disability for Rs 2000 per month for a period of 1 year. The transaction can be done by Cash, bank transfer or PayTM directly to the athlete's account. The program has already supported 24 para-athletes from Bengal, 2 each from Bihar and Jharkhand.

CWF takes care of the agreement between the athlete and the donor. The athlete's only responsibility is to spend the money in sports related transactions while the donor has to agree to render their support for at least 1 year. It also hands care of the systematic process of choosing a para-athlete.

Five Mad Men has a unique role in the program. They have chosen to show Paralympics to their customers on the largest Indian screen at a Gastro play pub, and hence, educate them comprehensively about the program in detail, thus initiating the sponsorship process. They have successfully initiated effective support for 5 athletes in the past.

If you are in Kolkata just drop in at Five Mad Men to see understand the program. If not, feel free to call 9830167177 or drop an email to civilianwelfarefoundation@gmail.com.

It's important to note that Bengal is one of the first homes of Indian Paralympics where the very first para-swimming association of India was formed 19 years ago by Punkaj Mullick, a national swimmer himself. Till 2017, Bengal Para-swimmers were the National champions but times are changing. Due to lack of government facilities and good support, the private support athletes are forced to stop participating in disability sports despite qualifying in both the national and international events.

Sanjay Das , a para-footballer sums up the whole initiative thus - " When you grab a beer, feel free to grab an athlete too. Don¡¯t wait for them to win a medal, help them before they even win it!¡°

So what are you waiting for? Grab a beer and help an athlete. The deserve our help and it's time we did our part.