PerseveranceWill Take You There
Imagine, that everywhere you go, people just stare at you. It doesn’t matter if you are with your friends or with your family, everywhere you go, people’s eyes follow you. People just look at you all of the time because you seem different to them. They treat you very differently than how they treat everyone else. How would you feel knowing this is the reality for millions of people with physical, visual, and intellectual disabilities? Thankfully, there are people around the world, such as Lucha Villar, who are determined to connect with disabled people, helping them achieve things that make other people look at them for what they are truly capable of, and not for their disability.
Lucha Villar is the current president of the paralympic movement in Peru. She works in promoting sport for people with disabilities and having the firm commitment to offer them the opportunity to participate in the different events of the Paralympic Circuit.
Her story on how she became involved in the paralympic movement in Peru starts 31 years ago. Lucha was living in Los Organos, Piura, when she met two Peruvian paralympic athletes who she befriended. The athletes explained to her how in Peru there was no National Paralympic Committee, and to be able to compete in any sort of competition, they had to buy and pay for all of the equipment and traveling expenses themselves due to the lack of economic support from the government.
This was the first time Lucha learned about the paralympic movement. She got inspired and hooked. Later on, she invited both of them to FDR. At FDR there is the Building awareness activities where students experience some para-sports and are able to meet some para-athletes. This experience made Lucha get more into this topic and study deeper into it, and the more she did it, the more she fell in love with it.
In 2003, the two paralympic athletes were asking for help to be able to go to the Paralympics in Athens 2004. “I helped them try to raise money with sponsors. We even did a fundraiser in school that was really helpful to be able to buy tickets. For a full year, we knocked on hundreds of companies’ doors so we could get as much help as possible,” Lucha said, determined to raise enough money so the Paralympics athletes could compete in what they love. Thankfully, after a lot of hard work, they were all able to travel with all of the equipment needed.
The problem was that while they were putting all of their effort to compete in different tournaments, they weren’t in the Peruvian Law, which means that they were informal, and not registered with the government. Lucha was willing to do everything in her power to convince the Peruvian Congress of the importance of the law and how important it is to have the same opportunities and rights to compete in sports; and that people with disabilities do not have fewer disadvantages. “It was not easy. It took us twelve years to make them understand that we need to have a National Paralympic Committee.” Twelve years might sound like a shame and a disrespect, which it is, but after a long wait they finally approved it and at last, the government helped them build a long-awaited Organization that was made official in 2016.
“Lima 2019 Parapan Games, helped to change the perception for people with disabilities, especially in Peru, where we earned 15 medals, and those games made the difference and helped people be more visible,” Lucha explained how the Lima Parapan games made many people in Peru more aware of how people with disabilities can also achieve incredible triumphs in sports.
Lucha’s path has taught us that no matter how many obstacles there are in our journey to achieve a goal. And no matter how much time we need to wait; if we are truly passionate about what we are doing, then our determination won’t let us stop. It will be there to give us strength when we feel we can’t walk anymore. Lucha’s story makes us reflect on how there are amazing people who dedicate their lives to helping others who just need a bit of support to show the world what they are capable of.