Small stature, synonymous with social exclusion

SD. "My family never said that I was not normal. I found out when I was 9, because I saw that the other children grew more than I did, and I heard when they said: "You are a dwarf."

During his childhood, Juan Francisco Vicente Tapia suffered social rejection because he suffered from dwarfism, a genetic affliction resulting in an individual having a stature considerably smaller than common in his species.

From the time when he was very young, he had to work to earn a living for himself and his family, all of whom are of normal size.

The lack of job opportunities and social exclusion, are the principle scenarios with which persons with this affliction have to struggle.

Like Vicente Tapia, some 70 persons with problems of dwarfism, took part yesterday, in the Sports Palace, in a recreational activity organized by the Minister of Sports, Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal, as part of his policy of social inclusion.

"These people of low stature exist, but in each isolated town, they have the right to do sports, to enjoy recreation and what we are looking for is this, that they constitute an association which demands their rights and from the Ministry of Sports the application of sports policies that are inclusive," noted the official.