Iraqi women chase Paralympic dreams
Despite a raft of obstacles, from infrastructure to societal stigma, team perseveres in its bid to reach global stage
Iraqi table tennis player Nur al-Huda Sarmad adjusts her wheelchair before striking the ball into play, braving sweltering heat, social stigma and inadequate facilities as she dreams of taking her team to the Paralympics.
Sarmad and seven other Iraqi women who live with disabilities train three times a week at a community center in the southern city of Al Diwaniyah, preparing for an upcoming tournament that could qualify them for the national Paralympic team.
The facilities, however, are far from Paralympic-standard.
"The tables are broken, there are power outages and we even have to buy our own paddles," said the 25-year-old Sarmad.
With no dedicated training facility, the team often has to share the three second-hand tables at the public community center with visitors.
In the scorching Iraqi summer they cannot turn on the fans, which would disrupt the movement of the balls.
