Disabled man defies odds to compete in international events

Nakuru

July 18, KNA by Esther Mwangi/Samwel Karanja

 A 41-year-old man has defied the odds and is living his life to full potential as a sportsman, human rights activist, and politician. 

Contrary to people’s perception of disabled persons as those always seeking for help and sympathy, Peter Maritim who is physically challenged has defied his disability and has been competing in sports many able-bodied persons would find grueling.

Maritim says that the common saying that disability is not inability has been ignored for a long time as many people tend to see people with disability as unable to perform some tasks with a majority of the communities denying disabled children education, which means they cannot learn a profession even though they may only be physically disabled.

“Such unschooled and disabled individuals end up depending on their immediate families and the rest of the society for a living,” added Maritim.

He expressed regrets that in most societies disabled children are deemed to be cursed or victims of witchcraft ending up being isolated or even abused.

In the August 2022 General Election, Maritim said he contested for the Baruti East Member of the County Assembly and came a respectable second with 1855 votes compared to the victor’s 2,173 votes.

Maritim who has participated in cycling and volleyball contests for differently abled participants in various tournaments in Kajiado in Kisumu, Migori, Isiolo, Nyahururu, and Nakuru Counties is happy to have received an invitation to showcase his prowess on an international stage in hand cycling desert race pitting more than 1,000 contestants in Namibia scheduled to be held in November this year.

Maritim who wears multiple hats as the chairman of United Disability Network Nakuru and a dedicated player of Nakuru County Sitting Volleyball, prides himself in the strong and close relationship he shares with his children, even though they have never openly discussed his disability.

It is worth noting that early this year Maritim achieved a remarkable feat at the Nairobi City Marathon, clinching the bronze medal for his outstanding third-place finish.

During an interview with KNA, Maritim posed questions: “How do we demystify disability? How do we undo the prejudicial language that persons with disabilities live with every day? How do we confront and reinvent practices that have undermined underprivileged persons with disability for a long time?

Maritim’s sorrow is apparent when he points out that millions of persons with disability in the world will never go to school, will never acquire knowledge and skills, and will never live decent lives that would make them productive in society, simply because the communities in which they were born equated their disability to inability.  

He said his determination was a story of overcoming incredible obstacles placed in the way of a person by society just because he is physically disabled adding that People with disabilities deserved to be given a chance to prove themselves by giving them opportunity.

“The problem is that we are hardly given opportunities and are often bypassed for jobs and promotions. Affirmative action needs to be implemented in all government and non-governmental institutions,’" Maritim advised.

According to Maritim sports is a powerful tool for the differently abled to promote the inclusion and the development of a positive self-image among the disabled.

To him, the hand cycling desert race will be an opportunity to focus on what a person with a disability can do, and not what they cannot.

“I am itching to demonstrate my courage and determination in a group of cyclists fitting grit and perseverance in the face of daunting adversity. I will not disappoint. I will fly the Kenyan flag high in Namibia,” he vows.

Maritim says he is determined to demonstrate that people with physical disabilities possess the strengths, abilities and skills required for success.

Courtesy ; K. N. A