UNSINKABLE Hawwa Mizna is determined to make a splash, defying all odds Swimming in Hulhumalé’s east end, Hawwa Mizna, 32, is just like any other person at the swimming track: splashing in the water and enjoying the sea, with eyes glinting in the sun. But for Mizna, the feeling of being in the water is like no other. Here, she is free. “I feel so light. It’s like I can move every part of my body,” Mizna says. Mizna was diagnosed with a case of kyphoscoliosis - an abnormal curvature of the spine, at an early age. Her condition worsened over the years and posterior decompression surgery left her with paralyses of the lower limbs. She has been using a wheelchair since she was 16 years old. It has been a life-changing ordeal, but Mizna strived to move on, not letting life’s curve balls stop her. “Don’t feel sorry for me just because this happened. A lot of times there is this assumption that people living with disabilities are unhappy, which is not always the case,” Mizna says with conviction.
32
UNDP MALDIVES
Mizna at her swimming sessions
Photography by ASHW A FAHE E M / UN D P M A L D I V E S
Mizna enjoys being healthy and independent. She is surrounded by a family who loves and supports her, including her amazing single mother who raised her with the aid of her siblings. It was Mizna’s husband who took her swimming after a long hiatus. Pain and weakness in her legs had kept her out of the water for years. “He knew how much I would enjoy it,” she says. At first, she had to cling onto her husband as she practiced her strokes. Soon she began to grow more confident, and gradually started swimming independently by herself. As Mizna eases herself out of the water and gets into her wheelchair, she is glad she is based in Hulhumalé - a city planned on an artificial island that was reclaimed on the northern side of Maldives’ main airport, and is a division of capital Malé. “This city is more spacious and easier to get around in. I think it’s friendlier to people with disabilities, compared to Malé,” Mizna says referring to where she used to live before.
