A source of inspiration
Having one leg has not stopped Jonas Iiyambo Shilongo from playing the sport he loves.
Jonas Iyambo Shilongo, 13, was born with a congenital skeletal abnormality, which meant that his one leg was considerably smaller and shorter than the other.
As he grew, this leg was amputated, but this setback only made the boy hungrier for life and his first love - football.
With crutch in arm, the feisty Shilongo can more often than not be seen after school kicking a ball with his friends. He is a pupil at Orange Combined School in the Okalongo circuit of the Omusati Region.
Not one to let his disability get the best of him, he is ferocious on the field and has become adept at scoring goals.
The courageous Shilongo said he loves mathematics when he is not on the field and would one day like to meet some of the Brave Warriors players, as they inspire him.
“Shilongo is just a reminder of how we all can rise up and push past our challenges, whatever they may be, “ said his grandmother affectionately known as Mee Ndorothea Ipinge.
“He is not academically gifted but what he can do is play football well. Even shouting at him to come and eat is a challenge, because he just wants to spend his time running up and down. But of course at times he stumbles and falls and the family has been talking in order to get him a donation for a prosthetic leg to help him move better,” she said.
A Good Samaritan, Fenny Nakanyete, who saw a video clip of the boy playing football in the dusty streets, said she was moved by his courage, and with a few friends decided to assemble money through sponsorships, which will enable them to purchase a prosthetic leg.
“We started a small project to help Shilongo. We are so humbled to have been contacted by the team from New Life Medical Suppliers in Swakopmund. They have offered not only their great service, but together with Greenvine (a non-profit organisation), they will be sponsoring half of the cost of all items needed for him for the process.
“They will further sponsor his first solid ankle cushion heel (Sach) foot refit when it becomes smaller. They provided us three options with grand totals ranging between N$46 254 and N$49 254,” Nakanyete said.
This, however, excludes travel and accommodation costs that Shilongo needs to cover for the five to seven days he needs to travel to Swakopmund for casting, fitting and trial.
“The order of items can only be done when we have paid the 50% deposit. So far we have managed to collect N$13 500 and we have about six months before the quotation expires,” explained Nakanyete.
A video clip of Shilongo playing football will be available on the Namibian Sun Facebook and Instagram pages today.
Anyone willing to assist Shilongo financially should call 081 418 2028 or make use of these details for a direct deposit:
Bank Windhoek
Account number: 8009508228
Account name: Gabriel S Kondo
Branch code: 481-972 (Windhoek branch)
Reference: Your name - Iiyambo
LIMBA MUPETAMI
As he grew, this leg was amputated, but this setback only made the boy hungrier for life and his first love - football.
With crutch in arm, the feisty Shilongo can more often than not be seen after school kicking a ball with his friends. He is a pupil at Orange Combined School in the Okalongo circuit of the Omusati Region.
Not one to let his disability get the best of him, he is ferocious on the field and has become adept at scoring goals.
The courageous Shilongo said he loves mathematics when he is not on the field and would one day like to meet some of the Brave Warriors players, as they inspire him.
“Shilongo is just a reminder of how we all can rise up and push past our challenges, whatever they may be, “ said his grandmother affectionately known as Mee Ndorothea Ipinge.
“He is not academically gifted but what he can do is play football well. Even shouting at him to come and eat is a challenge, because he just wants to spend his time running up and down. But of course at times he stumbles and falls and the family has been talking in order to get him a donation for a prosthetic leg to help him move better,” she said.
A Good Samaritan, Fenny Nakanyete, who saw a video clip of the boy playing football in the dusty streets, said she was moved by his courage, and with a few friends decided to assemble money through sponsorships, which will enable them to purchase a prosthetic leg.
“We started a small project to help Shilongo. We are so humbled to have been contacted by the team from New Life Medical Suppliers in Swakopmund. They have offered not only their great service, but together with Greenvine (a non-profit organisation), they will be sponsoring half of the cost of all items needed for him for the process.
“They will further sponsor his first solid ankle cushion heel (Sach) foot refit when it becomes smaller. They provided us three options with grand totals ranging between N$46 254 and N$49 254,” Nakanyete said.
This, however, excludes travel and accommodation costs that Shilongo needs to cover for the five to seven days he needs to travel to Swakopmund for casting, fitting and trial.
“The order of items can only be done when we have paid the 50% deposit. So far we have managed to collect N$13 500 and we have about six months before the quotation expires,” explained Nakanyete.
A video clip of Shilongo playing football will be available on the Namibian Sun Facebook and Instagram pages today.
Anyone willing to assist Shilongo financially should call 081 418 2028 or make use of these details for a direct deposit:
Bank Windhoek
Account number: 8009508228
Account name: Gabriel S Kondo
Branch code: 481-972 (Windhoek branch)
Reference: Your name - Iiyambo
LIMBA MUPETAMI
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article