Imagine being born without a right arm and poor eyesight and ending up representing your country at top world sports events as a swimmer. That's the story of 17-year-old Ugandan Husna Kukundakwe. Husna, who competed in the Paris 2024 Paralympics, says she hopes her success will encourage parents to support their disabled children.
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00:00Hey there, my name is Abigail Momonji. Today on Girls of Myth, I'll be talking to Husna
00:16Kukunda Kwe. The 17-year-old Paralympic swimming star has competed in both national and international
00:21sports despite her disability, making my country proud. Husna, you're such a great swimmer.
00:32How did your journey to swimming begin? My journey to swimming began at three years old
00:38in kindergarten. And I was just playing around, beating about in the water. And then I started
00:44to find more love and wanted to learn how to properly swim. Then when I joined primary
00:49school, I went for my first swimming competition. Sadly, I faced what is called discrimination
00:56to people with disabilities. So of course, that made me feel really, really bad. It was
01:01a huge challenge for me growing up. I was always laughed at, people always pointed fingers
01:05at me in school. And I ended up trying to hide my disability by wearing a sweater or
01:10long sleeved clothes. I lost my sweater at some point. Ever since then, I've never found
01:16it necessary to hide my disability. We all know that family support is very important.
01:22What role has it played to getting you where you are right now? Family support has definitely
01:26helped a lot with my confidence, just as a person with a disability. The support from
01:31my mum, I always say this example because it really did shape me, is the fact that I
01:39lost my sweater, but she refused to buy for me a new one. Because she realised I had to
01:44stop hiding my hand. She made me realise that this is how I was born, this was God's plan
01:51and there's nothing I can do to change it, but embrace it. On several occasions Husna
01:55has mentioned her mother as her mentor, as her pillar in her life as she builds her career.
02:00You have watched Husna since childhood. What were your initial thoughts when she decided
02:06to pursue swimming at a competitive level? First of all, I did not like her to swim because
02:12I was not sure whether she could swim. She was in a kindergarten, but then the teacher
02:18told me that Husna really wanted to swim because she would stay crying when others are going
02:22to swim. In 2009, she started travelling for international events, so that's how I started
02:30supporting Husna, by giving her all the time that she needed, by escorting her to local
02:37events and also by travelling with her at international events. Any advice you have
02:44for parents with teen athletes that want to pursue any kind of sports that have disabilities?
02:52They need to know what their children would want to do. There are also very many parents
02:57who do not understand that doing a sport is also very important in children as they grow.
03:07Not only children with disabilities. Let them play and then parents will identify what their
03:14children are doing best and then they support them. The message is loud and clear. You can
03:20achieve your dreams by putting your mind and hard work together. Husna is a living example
03:24for you to break barriers. The sky is the only limit. For Girls of Me from Kampala,
03:29Uganda, call me Abigail. See you in the next one.