This is a story that started many years ago when a gentleman called Ratna Rai, better known as Ratna Dai, wanted to set up a wheelchair basketball club in Jawalakhel area. In a few months, Ratna Dai managed to assemble a group of persons living with disabilities willing to have fun while staying fit by playing wheelchair basketball.

Some of them were very young while others were past their fifties.

It is also a story of partnerships, collaborations, endurance and resilience that led what was initially an informal group into one of the most successful examples of adaptive sports in Nepal, an initiative entirely powered by volunteerism.

I am talking about the Jawalakhel Wheelchair Sport Club, J.W.S.C, now a formally registered association and the most formidable rival of the Tribuhvan Army Club, the wheelchair basketball club of the National Army that for many years dominated the sports.

On the 14th of May, J.W.S.C. organised a small event at St. Xavier's School focussed on distributing seven sports wheelchairs, the result of a very interesting 'global' collaboration.

Sports wheelchairs are essential, and they literally make the difference in a game.

Till recently, the distribution of these wheelchairs, which are very light and specifically designed for competitions, among the teams was uneven. Luckily, also thanks to the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Nepal, now the situation is much better, but still J.W.S.C. is expanding and it is getting new members, and the need of these wheelchairs, which are very expensive, is never ending.

Thanks to a partnership between The Rose International Fund for Children (TRIFC), Ability Development Society (ADSoN) and one individual, acting on his personal capacity, Ian Attfield, now all the new members of J.W.S.C. have got some fantastic sports wheelchairs. This is a very pragmatic example that doers can make the difference without much fuss and visibility.

A short introduction to these persons is really due.

TRIFC is run by Rob Rose and lots of volunteers in the USA, and Rob is literally in love with Nepal and has been doing a lot to promote disability rights in the country. Believing in ownership and sustainability, Rob partnered with AD- SoN, led by an entrepreneurial and brilliant Nepali citizen, Nirmala Gyawali, that he had come to know when she was still a young student. Thanks to the involvement of a committed and responsible citizen, Rabendra Raj Pandey, now the chair of the organization, ADSoNis making the difference for visually impaired persons. Ian is an education expert working in Nepal since several years, and he himself is a very good wheelchair basketball player.

Wheelchair basketball brought Ian to come to know the team behind the J.W.S.C., and he is himself now a key member of the team. Ian personally understands the challenges that a person with disability experiences, and the common love for a ball allowed him to establish unique bonds with his team mates.

It is true we are talking about a small initiative, but it does not matter. Instead, what counts, is the level of alignment and the sharing of vision and commitment that brought an individual and three small organisations and one hosting school (learning institutions play a very key role here) together.

A very important ingredient was not missing at the event: working with the local government. J.W.S.C., like other wheelchair basketball teams in the country, is forging a significant relationship with the elected officials because local governments are responsible for making our spaces more accessible and for making local governance more inclusive.

That's why it is so vital for J.W.S.C. to work with the Lalitpur Metropolitan City, and the fact that other teams are doing the same is really paramount because local governments must embrace inclusion and diversity as one of their key goals to ensure good governance.

During the programme, Maheshwori Bista Rawal, the chief of Women Development Department at Lalitpur Metropolitan City, showed commitment and resolve to do more to support adaptive sports and disability rights in her jurisdiction.

We need such types of leadership, and the incumbent political leadership of Lalitpur has already showed in the past to be in the 'game'.

There is so much that we need to do to enhance wheelchair basketball and other adaptive sports. One of the major challenges is to have more women playing the sports. It is not easy and we need to do more.

Wheelchair basketball has had some success stories with some very strong female teams, but there have also been setbacks.

Moreover we need to do more to elevate the level of the game with better training and more competitions, especially big tournaments that can last long and attract people's interest.

In future, among many plans, J.W.S.C. wants to sensitise students about disability and invite them to embrace adaptive sports that, let's not forget, can be played by anyone, including persons living without disabilities.

To bring wheelchair basketball and other adaptive sports to the next level, we need to be realistic, pragmatic but also ambitious.

We need to do so for Ratna Dai who sadly passed away two years ago. Ratna was a wise man, always ready to crack a joke. He was a senior guy who trusted his junior friends and colleagues, those who are running the club now.

That's why the idea to have a Ratna Rai Memorial Wheelchair Basketball Tournament is indispensable not only to commemorate the man but also the struggles of all those athletes who have been sacrificing a lot.

Partnerships are essentials.

I am not just talking about partnerships as a byword for money. We certainly need them but, more than ever, we need passion, determination and resolve, the three pillars that make partnerships lasting.

Without them, Nepal will never become a beacon of social inclusion, something that Ratna Dai strived for so much, always with humbleness and a smile in his face.

A version of this article appears in the print on May 24, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.