Uganda's top para-swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe wants to use her platform to speak out for girls’ education and disability rights — Assembly

(Courtesy of Kawaii Patrick Wabwire Jr.)

13-year-old Husnah Kukundakwe discusses some of her many passions: swimming, Scrabble and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Assembly’s Game Changers series features female athletes around the world who defy convention on and off the field.

A few years ago, Husnah Kukundakwe didn’t even know para-swimming existed. Now she’s one of the sports’ brightest stars and most passionate voices.

Discrimination against people with disabilities is common in Husnah’s home country of Uganda. “Disabled people are not considered normal people,” says Husnah, who was born without her right forearm and with a malformation to her left hand. The 13-year-old used to attempt to hide her disability because of this prejudice — until she discovered swimming at school.

“Before I started swimming, I was really shy. I would always put on long-sleeve shirts to always try to hide my hand. And also I would always put my hand in my pockets to try to hide my fingers,” shares Husnah. “When I started swimming, you have to take your clothes off and jump into the pool. I had to get used to that and my self-esteem raised and I’m not as shy as I used to be.”

But it took a lot of determination for Husnah to develop that confidence. At her very first swimming competition, Husnah was sidelined for having a disability.

She had already competed in one race and was gearing up for her second when she found out that she wouldn’t be swimming again that day. “The teacher rethought about it and I had to be replaced by another swimmer who was able-bodied. So I was replaced,” Husnah remembers.

Although the discrimination at her first competition made her “really angry,” Husnah kept pursuing the sport and showed her teacher just how mistaken they were to take her out of that race. “To this day, that swimmer I was replaced with, I’m way faster than her,” Husnah says with a smile. “I proved them really wrong.”

Now Husnah has travelled around the world for her swimming career, competing at elite international events like the Singapore World Para Swimming World Series 2019 and the London 2019 World Para Swimming Allianz Championships. Husnah’s favourite part of travelling is “meeting different people” and “discovering different things I would have never seen.” During her trip to South Korea, she swam in an indoor pool for the first time, which was exciting (and freezing). While in the U.K., Husnah took a ride on the London Eye. And in Singapore, she discovered infinity pools. “I thought I would get in and fall off the balcony,” Husnah remembers with a laugh.

As Uganda’s only active para-swimmer, representing her country at such big events can be nerve wracking. But Husnah has found that taking a few deep, calming breaths helps her to “get over it and get confident.”

International competitions are Husnah’s only opportunity to race against other para-athletes. As there are no other para-swimmers in Uganda, Husnah has to train with and compete against non-disabled athletes at home. Across the continent, there are few resources devoted to para-sports, causing what many describe as a disability divide that limits opportunities for para-athletes from low- and middle-income countries. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, only 10 of the 593 para-swimmers were from Africa.

Not being able to compete against other para-swimmers in Uganda can be dejecting for Husnah. “Sometimes I’ll feel down. Sometimes I’ll go for competitions, swim with able-bodied swimmers and I wouldn’t get a medal,” she says. “Until my mom reminded me that every time I go for swimming competitions in Uganda, my main focus isn’t actually to get medals, it’s actually to improve on my time.” Husnah acknowledges that her mom is pretty wise, “but I still keep beating her at Scrabble,” she says grinning.

When she’s not dominating the Scrabble board or the pool, Husnah likes to relax by watching TV (“SpongeBob SquarePants” is her favourite show) or reading (she’s into the “Harry Potter” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series). Keeping up with her schoolwork takes a fair amount of her time, but Husnah has figured out a way to balance her pre- and post-school daily workouts with her homework. She recently earned top marks in her exams.

Husnah finds that school and swimming teach her valuable lessons relevant to other areas of her life. Her favourite subject is math, which she thinks is “really applicable in real life because you have to find different ways of solving different problems.” From swimming, she’s learned to believe in herself. “You have to have confidence when you go on the diving board and that confidence can be used when you’re making new friends, at school when you want to give an answer in class and you know you get really shy, but then you know you have to get over and get that confidence,” she shares.

Husnah knows that not every girl in Uganda gets the opportunity to thrive in the classroom like she has. “Most girls, by tradition, they stop school at a really young age,” she explains. “They just drop out because of poverty...some drop out because of early marriage, forced marriage, teenage pregnancy.” Husnah hates that this is so common in her country. “I feel really sad because those girls have really big potential to become big people someday,” she shares.

That’s why Husnah plans to use her platform as a para-swimming champion to speak out on the issues she cares about, like girls’ education and disability rights. “When I realised that I actually motivate people, I wanted to keep doing it so that I can increase awareness about people with disabilities and girls going to school,” she says.