When you know that the Bird’s Nest is a contrast, not a compliment, to the lifestyles of many in China, it’s easy to be po-faced about the Olympics and the impression given of First World sophistication. Lost in one’s reverse snobbery, one can end up underselling the positive impact of that extraordinary event.

My own epiphany came in the Underground, only a week ago. In the crowded passageways, I suddenly found my way blocked by a lady being pushed in a wheelchair. Suppressing, for the sake of charity, the minor burst of impatience that began to well up inside, I looked instead for a way past.  Suddenly it struck me that I had never seen a person in a wheelchair using the Underground before. I began to take a new interest in the couple in front of me and I allowed my pace to match theirs.  They seemed rather lost, but eventually negotiated the corridors to arrive, coincidentally, at the train I too wanted to board. Fellow passengers adjusted to the mild inconvenience of their presence on the crowded train, staff was positively helpful and, for the most part, the pair seemed to be making their way unassisted.  Eventually, they left the train as effortlessly as they had alighted and went their way. A Beijing first and all as a result of the Olympics.

I have spoken of the Games related additions to the Subway system before, namely the upgraded security, but perhaps even more revolutionary has been the introduction of stair lifts at many of the stations and the provision of an ingenious stair climber in other places.  The former is a rather more industrial version of those found in many homes now, and the latter is a contraption I had never seen before which can be wheeled to the beginning of a stair well, and allows a wheel chair-bound individual to be transported up or down  effortlessly.  They are not available everywhere, but they are to be had at the major stations and allows those in wheelchairs to access the system.  Up to this, the otherwise excellent Underground could not have been described as disabled friendly.

Access to public transport is just one of the challenges facing China’s 60 million disabled people.  Were one to look only at the legal code, the impression is of enlightened attention to their needs. The realities are less impressive. Many of the legal mandates remain aspiration. What services that are available are often confined to the urban areas, with few, if any, supports available to the rural disabled.  When one realizes that 56% of China’s population lives in the countryside, it shows how many are outside the loop. A Government Sponsored NGO exists to promote care of the disabled, but the top down approach is not complimented by a vibrant grass roots network promoting change.

The driver for the transformations of the situation in Beijing has been  the 2008 Games, the Paralympics in particular. It was perhaps a face saving exercise, one could hardly host a “Games for the disabled and have no access to the Transport System, but a year from now, that will seem immaterial. What will remain is a new mobility and extended range for people who, till now, could not easily move beyond their homes.  During the Olympics one saw many foreigners in wheelchairs but they were expected, and seemed an extension of the unreal quality of the Olympics month.  But the Olympics are over and this erstwhile po- faced observer is delighted to find that the legacy is more than a rather inaccurate impression of First World grandeur.

If you liked this article, please visit Our Projects Page.

Tags: Beijing Diaries, bricks, olympics, people with disabilities, Robert Hannah

As a foreigner, living in Beijing is to be exposed to extraordinary contrasts almost on a daily basis. One gets used to the excellence of the transport system, the availability of all but the most obscure of home comforts and a standard of living unsustainable at home. At the same time my work brings me into contact with those at the bottom of the economic ladder, who are those whom, in any society, struggle for recognition, but as residents of the Chinese countryside are not even guaranteed a place on the first rung; I speak of the handicapped, and the disabled, those who can be abandoned at birth here as being of no value, but whom the Irish language refer to graciously as “God’s People”. Recently, I came across a group of Sisters offering the possibility of a life to these children whom society has rejected.

At first it was supposed to be a straight forward visit to an orphanage. The Sisters would be gracious, the children winsome and the decisions made about cooperation reasonable. The Sisters were indeed gracious, the children more winsome than I could have expected, but I left with an overwhelming sense that the home was stuck in a rut, offering barely basic care to “God’s People” when even I could see that more was possible. It was hard to see a child of 10 denied a cleft palate operation because he was also severely mentally disabled and therefore was “less in need of the surgery” or to see a crippled child not get an education because he could not be brought to school. It was deeply disturbing and part of me wanted to shout at those dedicated women for their lack of imagination and for neglecting the children whom God had put in their charge.

Of course to do so would have been grossly unfair. I would be shouting at them for being as poor as their neighbours and for having horizons narrowed by that poverty. These dedicated women love the children; it is not their fault that they have not been introduced to the advances in professional care which we take for granted. So I did not shout, and I hope I avoided communicating some of my frustration at the unrealised potential of this group of God’s People. After all, I will get into the transport they provided and drive back into my shiny Beijing world, while they have to continue to care for these children as best they can, depending on handouts from neighbours as poor as themselves. Ever‎y week a new child will arrive and they will try and care for him or her while I will write a moving article about it from my air-conditioned office. From this elevation one can see so clearly the needs of this or that child, but the Sisters clean up after them and share their very humble lifestyle. I could not do that and the three hours I spent there was long enough, thank you very much.

The Olympics is about the potentials of the most physically able women and men on the planet and the government has built beautiful temples to display their prowess. It is an achievement to be proud of. The potentials of “God’s people” in rural China are more modest, and the temples built by the Sisters are more ramshackled. Still, were there justice in this world, some of accolades showered on athletes and organisers alike would be going to the countryside, to “God People” and those who are care for them, even if the achievements seem, in comparison, very modest indeed.

If you liked this article, please consider visiting Our Projects Page.

Tags: Beijing Diaries, bricks, no child left behind, olympics, people with disabilities

China’s new law on protection of the disabled effective July 1

Several new Chinese laws and regulations, including the amended Law on Protection of the Disabled, will take effect on Tuesday.

The amendment is aimed at improving protection of the country’s more than 83 million disabled ahead of the 2008 Paralympics in September. China’s top legislator, Wu Bangguo, told a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in April: “Caring for the disabled is a sign of social progress and an important part of building a harmonious society.

It showcases the country’s avowed respect for human rights in its constitution.

A revision of a 1991 law, the amendment was drawn up to “tackle new circumstances and problems” cropping up amid economic and social advances, according to Civil Affairs Minister Li Xueju.

The amendment added details about financial support, medical care and rehabilitation services for the disabled, along with preferential policies on jobs and taxes.

Governments at the county level or above should provide stable funding and draw up annual plans to help the disabled, it said.

It stressed the need to build and improve physical facilities that would make it easier for the disabled.

Beijing will host the Paralympics in September, while the AsianPara Games will be held in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in 2010.

According to the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, the country has about 83 million disabled, accounting for 6.34 percent of the population. More than 75 percent of the disabled live in rural areas.

China’s police chief vows to protect “dignity”, rights of rural migrants

Chinese State Councilor and Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu pledged to protect the rights of rural migrants by cracking down on abuses of their “dignity” and civil rights on Monday.

At the year’s first plenary conference of the leading group for security management of migrants, under the Central Committee of Comprehensive Management of Public Security, he urged all authorities “to provide timely, appropriate and sufficient services” for the country’s 210 million migrants.

Meng described migrants as vital to the building of a prosperous society and “part owners” of the achievements of economic and social development. The Party and the government were duty-bound to provide high-quality services and management, he said.

Local officials should listen to migrants and try hard to meet their demands, so as to improve services and management, said Meng, who is also a deputy director of the central committee and head of the leading group.

They should enjoy equal employment opportunities and employment services, improved housing and schooling for their children, and better integration with local residents, he said.

He urged companies to sign labor contracts and pledged to crackdown on unpaid wages, while encouraging trade unions to protect their rights.

Tags: migrants, people with disabilities, policy, poverty news