The Papua New Guinea Paralympic Team 2012, along with its Committee members, have expressed gratitude to HE Winnie Kiap, PNG High Commissioner to the UK, the PNG community in Britain and to Wantok Support Charity UK.
At an informal farewell luncheon at the PNG High Commission’s residence in the leafy North London suburb of Hampstead, on Saturday 8 September, Team Manager Rosemary Mawe said it was wonderful to have such a supportive community here.
She said athlete Francis Kompaon and power-lifter Timothy Harabe had done their best at the games and had performed to a very high level, given the limited training facilities back home and the exceptionally high quality facilities available to athletes in the UK.
Mr Kampaon achieved a new personal best in the London Paralympic games by clocking 23.05s in the T46 200m race. Previously, he became the first-ever Papua New Guinean to win a medal at a Paralympic games by securing an 11.10 second time during the finals of the 100m T46 race at the 2008 Beijing games.
Timothy Harabe lifted a personal best at 160kg in the under-75kg category in London, raising his overall ranking to 10th in the world. This was his first Paralympics.
In an emotional speech, High Commissioner Winni Kiap paid tribute to our Paralympians’ hard work and dedication. She emphasised that just for PNG to have a presence at these Games was a tremendous achievement of which we as a nation are very proud and which has put the eyes of the world on PNG. She said, “don’t worry about medals, you are winners all the same as you’ve had so much to overcome”.
HE Winnie Kiap was then given a framed picture by the Paralympic committee as a thank you for her hospitality. The athletes and Committee also donated two PNG athlete shirts to Wantok Support Charity UK to assist in its silent auction at the upcoming PNG Independence celebrations scheduled for 15 September 2012. Funds raised from the sale of these shirts will go towards specific projects that the charity has earmarked as well as supporting Papua New Guineans in the UK who face difficulty.
Wantok Support chair Nigel Walkinshaw said it was a privilege to share a meal with the athletes and expressed thanks for their donation. Mr Walkinshaw, who had met the athletes during their training in Wales a few weeks prior to the games, was able to identify ways in which Wantok Support could assist paralympians back home, specifically by providing specially adapted sports equipment such as footballs and rugby balls with bells for the blind and partially sighted.
The Team departed from London on Wednesday this week and arrived in Port Moresby on Friday 14 September.
