The XIV Paralympic Summer Games, will be held in London from August 29 to September 9, 2012. 4.200 athletes will represent 165 countries, including Haiti. Two Haitian athletes will defend the colors of our bicolor : Josué Cajuste [28] and the female athlete Nephtalie Jn Louis [33] in the shotput and javelin. They arrived in England accompanied by Pierre Richard Médor, trainer and Denis Sanon. Before the start of competition, our two representatives will train at New River Sports Centre in White Hart Lane, Wood Green.

Josué, disabled from birth, whose it is the first Paralympic Games, has a long history of excellence in the sport. It has rapidly evolved as an athlete, from football to swimming, what gained him the acceptance of all "I used to play football [using crutches] with other people without disabilities," recalling that in Miami "we played with people without disabilities, and we won 3-0."

Nephtalie, who contracted polio when she was younger, dreamed of being a police officer, but she became a receptionist. She started the sport in 2006 and hopes, like Josué, that having good results in London, will help more disabled people achieve their dreams in a country [Haiti] where being disabled is a stigma "The children do not think they are anybody [...] Normally with disabled people, they have a lot of talents, a lot of abilities but most of the time they do not find the help in order to show them to capacity."

Our young athletes hope that during these competitions, the world sees that people with disabilities can have the same opportunities and abilities than others.

Congratulations and good luck to our two athletes, who will be undoubtedly our pride !

BF/ HaitiLibre