My name is Skorupan Šefika, I live in Sarajevo and I am the president, manager and player of the women’s basketball team in wheelchair “Bambi”. I have been a person with disability since 1993, when I was wounded by a grenade coming back from work. At the time of my accident, 21 years ago, I had great difficulty leaving the hospital and arriving home, because I had an inadequate accommodation for people in wheelchairs in my apartment and I had family issues and financial problems. During my recovery, I realized that I could not run away from myself. My son, Alen, was six years old at the time. My husband, Meho, was my right-hand man for everything and together they were my biggest supporters, as they are even today. We endured many problems, and sometimes we thought there was no way out. We managed to do and adapt to many things, but that took time.
Today I live in a society where some of its members do not want and do not understand us. After my recovery I was faced with the fact that nothing will ever be the same and that my life is no longer what it was before. After a short time I began to go out into the city. Our society is unfamiliar with persons in wheelchairs and I had the feeling that everybody felt sorry because I was in this condition. Many approached me and offered chocolate, apples, bananas- all out of pity. I saw myself as a degraded person in this society. I really had a problem with such reactions. But I persisted. I decided to go into the city several more times and some persons understood the message so they did not feel sorry for me so much anymore. I found strength and I told myself: “You can do it, go ahead!”
While watching sports which included persons with disabilities, I wanted to get involved too because previously, when I was healthy, I was a track and field athlete. I joined the athletics team, where I have achieved remarkable results, and five years in a row I was declared the best athlete of the Sarajevo Canton in the category of athletes with disabilities. I moved on from athletics to start a basketball team in wheelchairs in 1999, where girls in wheelchair join the sport. In this sport we had to play against male teams because there are no other women’s teams on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and even today only our team exists in this category.
I am, as a woman with disability, part of a large group of marginalized women and I am exposed to multiple forms of discrimination just because I am a woman and I am of the sex which is facing major problems. It has always been said:
Women cannot play basketball in wheelchairs
Women in wheelchairs cannot drive a car
Women in wheelchairs do not have the financial support for a stroller
Women do not have the necessary bus transportation to get to training (while the male team did)
Women in wheelchairs do not have the necessary conditions at the gynaecologist
Women in wheelchairs do not have a job, etc.
The injustice in our society is still present. Equality of opportunities should be standard in every society, including ours.
Being the person that I am, I have achieved many things I never imagined I could.
I passed my driving test and I drive a car alone.
I founded a basketball team in wheelchairs (which plays against men) and I have been running it for 14 years now.
I have been declared the best sports official in Sarajevo Canton in 2013 and 2014, in the category of disabled athletes, and this was the first time a woman had been elected as the best sports worker.
My message is that women should not be neglected. They need to fight! The fact that I am in a wheelchair is not the end of the world. With will and persistence there is something to live for.
We should not give up even when we fall; we should get up to make our voices heard and not let the injustice beat us!
My basketball players and I were manipulated, but we won against society because we were more exposed to the public and we moved a lot more than other people with disabilities. Mine and my basketball players’ successes were enormous compared to the situation we were in at the beginning.
We managed to be included in the BiH Basketball championship in wheelchairs and we play against male teams.
We managed to pass our driving tests.
We now have orthopedic aids (although it is still necessary to adopt a new law).
Some of us are currently employed and work side by side with men.
We fought for the removal of architectural barriers (although some still exist).
What else can I say, my dear friends? Stand up for your rights and let the public know about it. If the public does not know about your problems then no one can help you. Bring everything you have to the table. It will be easier. If I have helped you by exposing my story, let me know and I will help you improve your life too.
Sincerely,
Skorupan Šefika
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