BAMENDA: THE COMMUNITY OF THE BLIND SHINES LIGHT ON BAMENDA GRASSROOTS SPORTS.

Youths with visual impairments have taken part in a holiday tournament organised by the Bamenda III municipal council.
The competition which is known as Bamenda III All Inclusive Royal Tournament is in its second edition and has had as novelty this year the inclusion of the blind community under the banner of the Hope Social Union for the Visually Impaired, HSUVI.

HSUVI is an organisation of the blind and partially sighted persons championing their inclusion and full participation in mainstream activities including sports as enshrined in the 2006 UN Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities.
In Bamenda, capital of the conflict hit Anglophone Northwest region of Cameroon, Bamenda III local council area leaders are increasingly shining light on disability inclusion in community activities, and the recent step is the participation of the HSUVI goal ball club in inclusive sporting activities organised for all the youths of the municipality.

The turning point of such spirit of inclusion was witnessed by hundreds of spectators including administrative and traditional authorities who watched an electrifying goal-ball finale between HSUVI’s Young Challengers and HSUVI Veteran teams that took place on Sunday August 27, 2023.

For the first time in the history of the community, these hundreds of spectators fed their eyes with nothing short of goal-ball beauty as the two HSUVI teams displayed a high classed performance, separating on a points margin of 10 to 9 in favour of the veterans.

Organised by the Bamenda III Council, HSUVI simply saw the event as timely enough to showcase the ability in disability. Peter Tonain, executive President of HSUVI told hsuvi.org that his organisation was pleased with the clear path to inclusion set by the Bamenda III Council, stressing that Mayor Cletus Fonguh Tanwie, one of the best inclusive mayors in the Northwest Region has been a friend not only to HSUVI but to the rest of the disability family. “I am very fulfilled seeing the Council include persons with disabilities in all aspects of community activities as usual,” he said.

While the curtains of the second edition of the Bamenda III All Inclusive Royal Tournament were being lowered at the mile 4 Nkwen Nibung field, HSUVI had one message to give out to the denizens of Nkwen in particular and to the general public of Bamenda and Cameroon at large, “disability is not inability.”