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Kenya was one of five countries to attend the 2012 Agitos Foundation Youth Workshop in Kigali, Rwanda © • IPC Kenya's Delegation at the Agitos Foundation Youth Workshop in Rwanda © • Yara Hoppenbrouwers

“I take my height as a challenge. I take it to reach where I can go, because for me the sky is the limit. I can do anything. I can do everything that a person with a different height does.”

Kenya’s Ruth Mueni is a Para-Table Tennis player on the international scene who has turned to inspirational speaking to encourage the next generation of athletes.

She regularly visits schools in Kenya to encourage children with a disability to play sport, and recently travelled to Rwanda, where she spoke to young people with a disability at the Agitos Foundation East Africa Youth Camp.

“The school children become more positive because sport encourages them and changes their minds positively to see that they can achieve what they want in life,” said Mueni, who also works as a clerk for the Kenyan Ministry of Sports.

“I encourage people by saying they don’t have to lose their focus and dreams in life and things can be achieved in sports,” she said.

Mueni, 27, believes it is particularly important for girls to have a female role model.

“The girls can see the coaches and see that women can do what men can do, and sometimes even perform better than men. They have so many talents most of them, but they have not yet discovered them,” she said.

A challenging childhood

As a young child, Mueni, who is of short stature, faced prejudicial attitudes, which were at times very difficult.

“Living in Africa as a woman with disabilities is a little bit challenging because you find that in some countries, they don’t accept persons with disabilities as people who can bring change in their community,” she said.

Mueni describes the moment she started playing sports 10 years ago as life-changing, and she has also enjoyed success as an actress and dancer, and was crowned Miss Confidence Kenya.

“Sport has made me to be where I am today. It has given me courage and optimism, because at first I wasn’t able to speak to people and I couldn’t be able to stand in front of people, but through sports, I have been able to stand in front of people and inspire them,” said Mueni.

“I take my height as a challenge. I take it to reach where I can go, because for me the sky is the limit. I can do anything. I can do everything that a person with a different height does.”