 We are still on mother's sports considering it is the COVID-19 pandemic that has struck the world of sports into darkness, but we have got some good moments in sports and we are talking to them after that. You have been actually watching the Bundesliga season so far. It has actually reached March 25 and today they are going to play March 26. And it is the first leg in the world to come back during this coronavirus pandemic. Can it sustain it? That's what we are going to see. Five matches today. Most of those matches, actually all the matches will be played indoors. We are waiting to see how it is going to happen. Joining me here in studio today are people who are working for Action Network for the Disabled here in Kenya. And they are here to talk about how this coronavirus pandemic has affected their industry considering it is sports for children, for education and everything that they do. Joining me here in studio now for the fun zone to discuss everything in sports is Sharon Ndumu, Project Coordinator for Action Network for the Disabled here in Kenya. And on my far right is Nasi Nduku from Tennis, Kenya. Welcome to 1, 2, 5, 4 ladies. This segment we usually have fun for this segment. It is a segment for gossip. It is a segment for fun and we are here to have fun. So Sharon, are you ready to have fun? Oh yes, I am. Ah, sure. Welcome to 1, 2, 5, 4 ladies. Thank you. We have got Nansi. Are you ready to have fun today? Kabisa kabisa. What are you going to tell Kenyans that they want to know about you, that they don't know about you? I'd like to tell Kenyans that they should embrace sports. It's a good thing to do, to be active in sports. It helps you replenish your energy and you keep and live a healthy life. Yeah. Why? So welcome to 1, 2, 5, 4 and we are here to talk about Action Network for the Disabled because that is what you are doing for our children outside. Therefore, for someone who doesn't know Andy, Action Network for the Disabled, Sharon, tell us what does that group do and what do you entail? Action Network for the Disabled is a non-government organization. It's actually a disabled person organization that works for children and youth with disabilities in Kenya. So, for what purpose do you work with them? In what area and what categories? Mainly on matters education and sustainable livelihoods and for education we do this through sports. We promote inclusive education through sports. Simply because sports it speaks in a language that does not discriminate. The rule of the game is just the rule of the game. So regardless of how I present. What kind of sports do you usually deal with? Mostly we do adaptive sports like wheelchair tennis, basketball, sitting volleyball and also because we don't do just sports for children with disability and because we are promoting inclusion so we encourage even the teachers, the parents to embrace these other sports to promote that friendship, that inclusivity. So we don't just focus on the games that children with disability can play but also these are the games that these other children play. So just to make them be a little bit inclusive. So where are you based here in Kenya and which schools do you deal with? Some children will be there at home and today they are singing on TV and they say oh that's my teacher by the way and she is on TV. Which schools and where are you based? We are based in Kibera and we work mostly with public schools. We have been doing this for quite some time and during the first phase we were in six schools in Nairobi and Kiambu County. So this time we have a project that we were starting in January but it was now the setback of corona and we are in ten schools in that particular project. So we have a big one for you there and then we got Namsen Duku from Tennis Kenya, a big organization here in the country. How are you affiliated to Andy Kenya? I would say we are partners because through them we can help identify young players who can get engaged to participate in wheelchair tennis. So far now we have got the COVID-19 pandemic actually here in the country and worldwide and it has affected everybody in your area. How has this one affected you in this program that you run for the children? It has affected us in a big way because now schools were closed abruptly and as I said before sports is therapeutic for these children with disability. We use sports to break down the stigma so that these children when they come play together they realize oh this person despite the fact that they have disability they can play with us so even in class we can do something together. They can learn just like me for those without disability they get to understand them much better and it's a big blow because now everything has to all. This is a setback to all the mice we have gained. These children are usually primary school children? Yes primary school children. So for you Namsen as you are a partner to the Action Network for the Disabled here in Kenya, how do you get to know these children and how do you bring them to Tennis Kenya? Mostly we visit hospitals where we have the physically challenged we get players from there. We also go to schools and we introduce wheelchair tennis, they train and we are able to pick potential players and organize programs throughout the school terms where we have at least two sessions a week. So far we have six schools, we have one in Mombasa, we have one in Nairobi, Machako, Tika, Kisumu and Kakamega. And what are some of the sports disciplines because the major one that she has talked about that we know so far is wheelchair tennis. Is that the only one that you deal with or are there others that you help them with? For now we only have wheelchair tennis and we've also grown into deaf tennis as part of our program. So for how many people do you have in the program for tennis Kenya for wheelchair tennis and deaf tennis? Deaf tennis we currently have a team of 16 and wheelchair tennis seniors we have 20 and juniors if we sum up the number of junior players in all the schools we are at around 50. Do you have any other partners or it's only tennis Kenya that you have as a partner when it comes to Action Network for the Disabled? Here we have other partners who are supporting the project and they link between us in tennis Kenya. As we go to school we introduce these sports and we let the kids decide what sports they want to engage in. So from there as they grow up because now we are up to a certain level we just introduce sporting activities to that child and then now they continue. So once they grow as they continue tennis Kenya picks up the ones who are interested in like tennis so they continue with him. So the talent is not just lost at some point anyway. It is Y254, I'm Robert Osolanda. I'm hanging out here today with Sharon Ndung with a project coordinator for Action Network for the Disabled here in Kenya and also Nelson Duku from Tennis Kenya. And we are talking about how the coronavirus has impacted also sports and the children who are having disability problems here in the country. If you are just joining us you can follow this conversation online at Y254 channel on Facebook and Twitter. You can also go to our channels on Zuku start times we are channel 54, DSTV channel 376 and on Signite Go TV channel 826. So you can also follow this conversation as we talk about the COVID pandemic here in the country. So Sharon when it comes to support what kind of support do you need in this world because the children you are dealing with people usually correct me if I'm wrong. People usually don't think they are normal because of the stigma and everything but in all sense of the world they are normal children. What kind of support do you actually need from us and everybody in the world? Well the kind of support we require from everybody is just to include these children in every sense of the world like from home. Let them participate in decision making in everything in play activities. I can tell you when I was growing up as a child with disabilities and I went to school and all through the school life I was not able to participate in any particular spot because they felt I am sick. I might get worse you see like I could just sit at the corner watching other people play and people will bring their sweaters, their bags, nishiki easy. So I was not able to participate in any specific game. So when I came to Andi, by the way I started spotting at Andi and for me I love swimming, I joined swimming and that's when I knew wow so I can also get into a pool and do sports. So it brings about the feeling of that confidence, it boosts your self esteem. So when you just put them aside and they just left there, that's how you bring them down. So when you engage them in everything like in decision making in house chores, they have to be involved. They are not sick, they just have a disability. So we just request or maybe ask the community to not discriminate them. Had you already identified some of the children who are going to join tennis game? Or Nancy's question. I think that is Nancy's question. As I said we had planned to have sessions in some of the schools that they work with and we work with the schools throughout the term because they are all together and it's easy to train them when they are in a team. But now with corona and everything that's happening there has been no opportunity. What about the role models that they can follow from tennis Kenya who are actually participating in the wheelchair basketball wheelchair tennis that these children actually can look up to? Can you tell us some of them? Actually one of our players who is the top player in Kenya, Jane, works for Andy and we use her to actually encourage the players. When they see her compete and she is there training them, they have hope that yes I have a disability but I can participate in sport and be a champion. Jane has represented the country at the world team cup championships four times and wheelchair tennis has just been in Kenya for eight years. So you can see there is that opportunity for progress and for greater achievement. What else are out there that we should know about? Jane, there is Fibi Masika, there is Asiya Sururu. Actually Asiya also qualified for Tokyo Paralympics under rowing. So you can see you can engage in various spots. In the men's team we have Collins Lumumba, we have Peter Munuwe, we have Rajab Atman, we have Ita Kentimui and Shaban Warioba. When it comes to your calendar in tennis Kenya, how was it disrupted by this pandemic? Because everywhere in sports, athletics, football, everyone was disrupted. But when it comes to tennis Kenya and tennis, how was it disrupted from your end? All competitions were stopped. We had plans to send teams outside the country for competition. Various championships across Africa and the world. And with corona and the different country lockdowns we are not able to send. And also it has hindered our training. And now we can only focus on next year. Sharon, if there is someone outside there who is watching, why to fight for the touch? And today I want to get in touch with you guys, how can they do that? We are located in Kibera. And you can find us on www.andee.org.ke. That's our website. Only that, you don't have a Twitter handle. Yeah, we have a Twitter handle. Jen is the one who was supposed to say that. We are sorry for that, we could not make it to the set here today because of the corona virus. Even here in the studio, that's why we are sitting this one meter apart. So, Twitter Facebook. Facebook is Action Network for the Disabled. Yeah. And Action Network for the Disabled. Yeah. No Twitter handle. What do you say to people like us? We usually think that people like you are not normal. What is that word of advice? Can you give people like us outside there that we can see you to be people like us in one community and one world? Well, there is no one who is maybe abnormal if I may say that. We are all normal. It depends how you engage each and everyone because everybody is abled in a different way. So, it depends. That's where we cut you short because the president...