A special guest and special moments at the Hope House

On the 29^th of December, 2013 it was announced to the girls of the Hope House about an impending visit by a very special person next day.  Girls immediately swung into action to charge their digital camera, got notebooks to get autographs and much much more.

We were visited by a swimming champion.  Not any swimming champion but a Para-Olympian (at Beijing and London), Silver medalist at world swimming championships and a four time Gold medalist at recently held Can-Am (Canadian American Swimming Championships held at Edmonton, Canada on December 16^th, 2013.  That is none other than Ms. Katarina Roxon of Canada.

So the obvious question everyone has is “Why Hope House”?  Kataraina’s parents are Indian descent Canadian citizens and they studied Physiotherapy at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore and friends to the Director of the Hope House and few Board of Trustees of the Hope House.  As they were visiting India for Christmas, Hope House Director extended an invitation which was accepted by the family.

(Click on the images to enlarge to see the details)

Now, coming to the visit itself, girls were surprised to see a healthy normal looking individual that has participated in Para-Olympics (they had learnt about Para-Olympics recently) but chose to wait for their moment to ask Katarina.  We sat in a circle and introduced ourselves and then came the biggest surprise of their lives.  Katarina brought the most precious earnings of her life – her medals to show to the girls.  She brought her Silver medal of the world championships and four gold medals of Can-Am Championships.

They passed it around but the most graceful thing that Katarina did was to tell them to wear the medals around their necks and took photographs.  As we sat for dinner, she showed her event at the world championships recorded on her phone and the girls couldn’t believe the courage, strength and the fighting spirit that she displayed.  At last they asked the burning question about the reason for her participation in the Para-Olympics.  As soon as Katarina took out her forearm prosthesis, girls had a jaw drop expression on their faces and multiplied respect for her in their minds.

She signed autographs and took a group photo and then it was time to say good-bye.  Girls who have email addresses promised her that they’ll stay in touch.  Then the Director sat with them and told them about the respect she commands in Canada – She was honored at Canadian Parliament recently.  Lesson in short is that “Never to look at your limitation as a liability but an opportunity to turn it into an asset”.

 THANK YOU Katarina and Roxon family for your visit.  It meant a world to our girls.