The UNAWEZA Foundation can successfully give wings to its beneficiaries thanks to the support of people with big hearts. Project initiator Corinne Klajda will run two desert ultramarathons this year as part of the 4DESERTS RUN. First step? Gobi!

Our goal is 250.000 PLN. This amount will fund scholarships for 10 Paralympians from Poland and Ukraine, who dream of competing at the ParaOlympics in Paris, 2024.

In last year's edition, we raised PLN 375.362 for scholarships for Polish and Ukrainian Paralympians. And through two editions, that's a total of PLN 626.533.

Many thanks to all sponsors, including Castorama, BLIK, Sephora, EWL, ECOVADIS, Dr. Irena Eris, Cosmedica, DeCare, Techmatik. Signal Iduna Polska, Bank Millennium, Podravka, BeBio, Ringier Axel Springer, OLX, Satipharm, InteRrisk, Symbiosis.

We will soon introduce you to the profiles of all our new beneficiaries.

The first edition of the #CorinneRunsForGood program: https://www.unaweza.org/en/komu-pomagamy/corinne-runs-for-the-paralympic-athletes/

The second edition of the #CorinneRunsForGood program: https://www.unaweza.org/en/komu-pomagamy/corinne-runs-for-good-project-for-paralympians-2022/

You can find out more about the project #CorinneRunsForGood and Corinne's story in Martyna Wojciechowska's book "Co Chcesz Powiedzieć Światu".

"Corinne Klajda is fifty-three years old. She is CEO of Accord Group Poland, an international consulting firm specializing in executive recruitment. She looks for people to become CEOs, CFOs and board members with salaries ranging from forty to over a hundred thousand zlotys a month, not counting bonuses. She has an impeccable reputation in the business world and is famous for her non-standard methods of conducting recruitment interviews; she is more interested in the person than in a piece of paper with a descriptive resume. She is also the co-founder of two other companies in the industry. She has taught at an economics university, is a certified business coach, a mentor, and regularly advises others on how to manage people.

She is originally from Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean about eight hundred kilometers east of Madagascar. She completed her Sinology and management course in China. She has lived in Warsaw for more than twenty years, where she and her husband raised two daughters, Kaja and Isabelle. She comes from a very modest family, but through hard work she has gone really high.

Yet a week before her fiftieth birthday she had the feeling that she had hit a wall, she felt that she had stood still. It was exactly as if an unbreakable wall was rising in front of her".

That's when she decided she wanted to change her life and start running. For a worthy cause. Together we can do more!

Join us.

MEET OUR PARALYMPIANS

PAULINA PRZYWECKA-PUZIAK

PAULINA PRZYWECKA-PUZIAK can be described in words such as DILIGENCE and DETERMINATION. She has represented Poland at the World Weightlifting Championships multiple times, achieving impressive results and winning consecutive titles. Now she is our great hope for success at the XVII Summer Paralympic Games in Paris 2024. Preparations for this greatest sporting event are extremely intense - Paulina trains as many as five times a week.

How did her adventure in sports begin? She attended extracurricular activities for people with disabilities, playing table tennis and basketball. After one of the table tennis tournaments in Bydgoszcz, she was spotted by a coach who noticed her aptitude for strength sports. She went to her first training session and fell in love. As. she said her biggest inspiration is her teammate Marzena Zięba.

The scholarship from the UNAWEZA Foundation's #CorinneRunsForGood programme will primarily help her prepare as well as possible for her next competition. Paulina will use it to fund her training commute and maintain a healthy diet.

What is more, she reconciles her sporting performances with her role as a mum! It is her son and husband who are her greatest motivation. Her motto in life is: NEVER GIVE UP.

Disability: leg amputee

Discipline: para-powerlifting

DARIA BUJNICKA

She puts sport first. DARIA BUJNICKA is an extremely talented and hard-working athlete who will turn 20 this year! In 2016, she started training in para-badminton in Pabianice. Since then, she has represented Poland non-stop, forming a perfectly harmonised doubles team with Olivia Szmigiel. In 2022, they won the silver medal at the World Championships in Tokyo. Daria regularly stands on the World Cup podium in both singles and doubles.

How is she preparing for the Paralympic Games in Paris? She trains as many as six times a week! She takes up photography and spends time with her loved ones in her free time! Her biggest inspiration is her mum - thanks to her, Daria's adventure with sport began.

She would like to show others that it is possible to be active in spite of disability-related barriers. The biggest smiles come from her family, friends and of course... successes! And she has a lot of them. We cheer her on wholeheartedly and keep our fingers crossed for her next achievements!

Disability: achondroplasia - short stature

Discipline: para-badminton

OLIWIA SZMIGIEL

Oliwia Szmigiel smiles genuinely often. She says it is because she is incredibly happy. This talented para-badminton player is constantly developing and getting impressive results. Together with DARIA BUJNICKA, they form a remarkable doubles pair that won a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships in Tokyo. These girls are UNSTOPPABLE!

The #CorinneRunsForGood scholarship will mainly help her to pay for her training, buy new equipment or fund her numerous trips.

As she says, she is proud to represent her country on the international stage. She is also happy that she can show people that with a disability you can do a lot of things and be successful. You can be content with life. Just like that.

Disability: achondroplasia - short stature

Discipline: para-badminton

KINGA DRÓŻDŻ

How do you successfully combine a career in aviation and sporting success on the international stage? KINGA DRÓŻDŻ proves that nothing is impossible. Every day she fights to be the best possible version of herself. She also aims to inspire others to do the same.

The absence of her left hand and hip osteoarthritis is not an obstacle for her to wholeheartedly dedicate herself to the sport. In her debut at the Paralympic Games, our talented para-medal athlete made it all the way to the quarter-finals. She is regularly successful at World Cup competitions and European Championships. She is one of the main candidates to win a medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, and the #CorinneRunsForGood programme scholarship will allow her to prepare for them as well as possible with peace of mind!

Her adventure with sports began as early as a primary school when she started attending extracurricular fencing classes. Every success, medal won or smile on the faces of her loved ones motivates her to keep working. Kinga started the pre-Olympic year with two gold medals at the World Championships in Washington - individually in sabre and as a team in sword.

She is very proud to have graduated with a degree in aviation, to be working in her profession and to be fulfilled in sports. And when she's not training, she's... travelling, exploring and broadening her horizons.

Disability: lack of left hand, osteoarthritis of the hip joint

Discipline: para-fencing

KAROLINA PĘK

KAROLINA PĘK starts her daily table tennis training at 7 am. She loves what she does and doesn't see herself in any other sport. And most of all, it gives her great pleasure!

Karolina's first love was football. When she was 10, her mother persuaded her to take table tennis training. And she made her first appearance at the Paralympic Games at the age of less than 14! Despite having perinatal brachial plexus palsy, she also plays in the non-disabled women's tennis league and... WINS!

Karolina is going like a bomb - she has already won many medals in her career, including team gold together with Natalia Partyka. It is Natalia who has always been Karolina's inspiration. The determination and persistence of our Scholars remind us that it is worth fighting for your dreams. Always!

Disability: perinatal brachial plexus palsy

Discipline: table tennis

ALEKSANDRA OCHTERA

In her own words, sports can be something absolutely magical. She would like to inspire others to move, develop their passions and find joy in everything they do!

ALEKSANDRA OCHTERA comes from Koszalin and was born without a right hand. She is 19 years old, and her adventure with swimming began in the 3rd grade of elementary school. Ola regularly participates in Polish or European championships. She has also already started her preparations for the Paralympic Games in Paris.

Certainly, the #CorinneRunsForGood scholarship will help her pay for personal training, a special diet, physiotherapists, the purchase of goggles or sports equipment.

She loves what she does. And her greatest pleasure comes from training and talking to the people she meets on her athletic path.

Disability: lack of a right hand

Discipline: para-swimming

KATARZYNA KOZIKOWSKA

KATARZYNA KOZIKOWSKA is an extremely talented para-kayaking athlete. Thanks to her determination and passion, she managed to win a bronze medal at the 2018 European Championships. She started her adventure with the sport with swimming, in which... she was also a representative of Poland! A change of discipline in sports allowed her to quickly reach for medals.

Kasia has a close run-in with the podium at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, where she finished fourth, losing by a difference of just 0.01 seconds. Now, after a short break due to the birth of her daughter Julka, she is back to training. We will certainly see her in full form at the Paralympic Games in Paris!

The time has come to make her dream of a medal come true! And what is her motto? IMPOSSIBLE DOESN'T EXIST.

Disability: leg amputation

Discipline: para kayaking

KAROLINA KUCHARCZYK

If ambition could be a person, it would certainly be Karolina. She breaks world records, wins first places and never gives up. KAROLINA KUCHARCZYK is a three-time Paralympic medalist in long jump! Her story proves that there is no single path to success - each has her own unique wa.

At the age of 12, when she was sent to a special school, it was the gym teacher who discovered her athletic talent. Long jump is her beloved sport, but she also trains 100 meters over hurdles, 200 meters and triple jump.

She is most motivated to perform by her own ambition and her fans. And her biggest inspiration is Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt.

Karolina feels fulfilled as an athlete, but she still has many plans. She would like to inspire others to BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES! She recently won a gold medal in Paris at the World Championships. She is not stopping and is preparing for the Paralympic Games in Paris. She is fighting to break more records and to achieve among non-disabled athletes.

What will our #CorinneRunsForGood scholarship give her? First of all, mental comfort and real support in, for example, paying for her diet, nutrients or sports clothes.

We are keeping our fingers firmly crossed for her! Who's with us.

Disability: intellectual

Discipline: long jump

ANNA SZEREMET

ANNA SZEREMET, an extraordinary Ukrainian athlete, comes from a small village in the Dnipropetrovsk region. When she was just three years old she suffered a nerve injury and has been in a wheelchair ever since.

She started her adventure in sports at the age of 16. She was inspired by a motivational meeting at school with the coach of the Ukrainian National Team, Vitaly Holichenko. It was his story that persuaded Anna to try para-sailing. Already in 2018, she won a silver medal at the World Cup. Anna is currently a member of the National Paralympic Team of Ukraine and holds the title of Sports Champion of Ukraine.

We are keeping our fingers very firmly crossed for her at the upcoming Games in Paris!

Discipline: para-rowing

NATALIIA MORKVYCH

She was born in 1992 in Lviv. A talented athlete, she has some truly impressive achievements on her record. Representing Ukraine, she has won many medals at the World and European championships in wheelchair parashilling. Nataliia was also a participant in the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. She currently represents the Lviv region and the "Invasport" center in Lviv. Interestingly, she is also a graduate of Lviv's Ivan Franko National University.

We are very happy to support her in her preparations for the biggest competitions in the international sports arena!

Discipline: para fencing