18 Sep 2008, 9:47 am

BEIJING — The Paralympics, featuring more than 4,000 athletes with disabilities, ended Wednesday after challenging China's traditional attitudes toward its 83 million disabled people, many of whom are denied an education and the chance of employment.
"The legacy of the Paralympics is huge and far reaching," Wang Wei, a senior official from the Beijing organizing committee, says. "People are beginning to respect more people with disabilities because they are challenging their own limits."
Scott Hogsett, a gold medalist with the U.S. wheelchair rugby team, says, "Most of the world is not accessible to disabled people, but I was pleasantly surprised by China. The sidewalks were very accessible."
Touring Tiananmen Square, his team was mobbed for photographs and conversations. "Seeing so many athletes (with disabilities) is having a huge impact here," Hogsett says. "They see us out in public and see we have a life outside our disability."
COMPETITION: Murderball muscles into Paralympics
Watching the goalball competition for blind athletes — in which teams of three try to throw a ball with embedded bells into the opponents' goal — was a revelation for Beijing businessman Sun Yongshang. "I never thought blind people could play such an exciting game, and I have worked with disabled people for 10 years," says Sun, who imports prosthetic limbs from Europe. "These Paralympics are definitely changing social attitudes toward the disabled. It's not perfect yet, but it is getting better."
The focus on the Paralympics highlights a sharp inequality among those with disabilities. About 75% of China's estimated 83 million people with disabilities live in the countryside, says Chen Ya'an, international director for the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF), a government body.
"They do not receive the same treatment as disabled people living in cities," he says. Improving rural access to employment, education and rehabilitation remains "a huge challenge," Chen says.
The contrast between China's city and countryside "couldn't be starker than when it comes to disability," says Stephen Hallett of China Vision, a British charity that supports education of China's visually impaired.
"The big challenge is how to bring China's shaky welfare system to the most disadvantaged people," Hallett says. China "has the money, and needs to make serious decisions about where to invest it."
Zhao Li of Beijing has used a wheelchair since a traffic accident in 1997. In January, the local government paid for her apartment to be fitted with handrails. "Chinese society is paying more attention to disabled people now," Zhao says. "The Paralympics are having a great impact."
Chen Wen, 23, is getting used to her wheelchair, two months after doctors amputated her legs following a traffic accident. The tourism graduate lives in a village near Baoding in Hebei province and has little hope of government support.
"Social welfare programs don't reach us in the countryside," Chen says. "My mother is so sad. After we spent our savings on hospital fees, she went to all her relatives and neighbors to borrow money, but we still don't have enough for prosthetic legs."
Chen and her husband, Liu Xiaodong, were married May 1, and the newlyweds struggle with their changed future. "We don't know which government department can help us. Chen's mood is always up and down. She cries, beats me and gets angry easily," he says.
The long-term worry is employment. "All the disabled people where I live just stay at home," Chen says. "No companies want to employ disabled people, as they fear it will affect their image."
China operates a quota system that requires employers to hire the disabled, says the CDPF's Chen. He admits that some firms prefer to pay fines.
Wang Fang, who runs the Home of Angels rehabilitation center for children with cerebral palsy in Nanning in southwest China, hopes the government will commit more funding to the countryside.
"Many farmers feel helpless as resources are so limited in rural China," she says. "I recently received a call from a farmer whose wife has left him to look after their disabled child on his own. I often hear of such cases, as a disability can end up splitting families."
Wang, whose daughter has cerebral palsy, hopes groups such as hers will use the Paralympics to raise their profile.
"We don't want sympathy, we want rights, such as the right to education, the right to rehabilitation and the chance to participate equally in society," she says. Though some people "still think disabled people have no abilities, these attitudes are changing," Wang says. The children at her center were greatly encouraged by a gold medalist in Beijing who has cerebral palsy, she says.
Chen Wen has no plans to take up sports but dreams of writing fiction about people with disabilities. She intends to stay in her home village, but her husband wants to move to Beijing, where the couple are temporarily based. They were moved by the kindness of a resident who gave them tickets to watch wheelchair basketball. "I never realized disabled people could be so strong," Chen says.
To cope with her new disability, Chen will need an optimistic mindset, says Paralympian Zhou Yangjing, who lost both her legs in a traffic accident at age 1. She won a gold medal last week in rowing.
"Once you become disabled, your life will change greatly, but your life's value should not change. You can do more than you think and must not feel the whole world has turned dark," Zhou says. "If I weren't disabled, I couldn't be a gold medalist today."

 17 Sep 2008, 9:24 am

my favorite hobbie is basketball because im tall and i can get get famous faster. i also like jumprope because it give me energy. i like playing hobbies that make me happy like soccer, football, racing, cheerleading and more. i like playing soccer because i like to kick the ball and i like winning games. i like playing football because i like to tackle people. i like racing people because it makes me faster. i like cheerleading because it make me feel like a star.

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 16 Sep 2008, 9:53 am

INTERNATIONAL DANCE CREW

I WENT TO THIS DANCE CLASS CALL -->IDC<--ENTERTAINMENT AND FUN. WE DID SHOWS AND STUFF LIKE THAT BUT WE DIDNT GET TO MEET ANY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE BECAUSE WE WERE TO YOUNG TO GO TO SHOWS OUT OF PHILADELPHIA BUT THE OLDER KID GOT TO MEET SOME SUCCESSFUL PEOLPE AND GOT TO GO OUT OF PHILADELPHIA. I DONT GO TO THAT DANCE CLASS NOMORE BECAUSE I WAS TO FAR TO GO BACK AND FORTH FROM MY HOME TO THE DANCE CLASS. BUT IF ANYONE WANTS TO JOIN THEY CAN CALL {{267-251-1156}} SUPREME IS THE NAME.

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 15 Sep 2008, 9:25 am

CAREER
When I grow up I want to go to college to be a layer but before I grow up I want to be famous. My future plans are to be in movies and to be in commercials, to be an actor and one of the best top models. From that get married start a family, than live my life

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 11 Sep 2008, 9:24 am

TWIN TOWERS

That’s was a shame how those Caribbean’s made the plane crash into the twin tower because it was so many innocent people inside those buildings. When the incident happened with the twin towers I was about 4 yrs. Old I didn’t have know Idea about what was going on out there in New York. But as I grown up and hear about that I feel bad inside and angry because those people didn’t have to die like that, and I thank GOD for the people who made it out of the building and for the people that ran away from the building, but I also still feel bad for the people who died and now is away from there loved one.

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 11 Sep 2008, 9:03 am

By: Quaadirrah Sowell


IF MY LITTLE SISTA WAS TO GET ON THE COMPUTER I WOULD TELL HER NOT TO GET ON THE CHATLINE AND TELL OUR HOUSE PHONE NUMBER AND OUR ADDRESS.THE REASON WHHY I WOULD TELL HER TO NOT GET ON THE CHATLINE BECAUSE THEY COULD GET OUR INFORMATION AND TRY TO KIDNAP US AND THEY MIGHT GIVE US AN VIVRUS ON OUR COMPUTER.

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10 ways to be a better student 10 Sep 2008, 9:59 am

· getting organized at school and at home
· developing sound study skills
· improving specific classroom behavior
· outlining and reviewing notes
· preparing for and taking tests
· listening to and following directions accurately
· be prepared always
· study for a test
· come to school on time
· stay out of troubles

no subject: 10 Sep 2008, 9:24 am

My name Quaadirrah and I'm 12 yrs. old born {{19??}} i took mah first step in Mariana Brectti academy charter school i was raised i northphilly and born to be a star. Im very talented and smart i have the talent to do anything that will make me get to the top, well that's all i have to say right now i will get back at you later.

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