JFActivist

War-Torn Iraq Has Robust Paralympic Team

From The New York Times (June 29):

Athletes Disabled by Wars Lead Iraqi Team in World Games

By ANDREW E. KRAMER

...Playing fields, pools and gyms are in disrepair. Athletes are targets for assassination. Only one, a weight lifter, qualified for the Beijing Olympics, the second Summer Games since the American invasion in 2003.

War and hardship, though, have not destroyed all of Iraq’s dreams for international competition. The country, which has been in three wars in two decades, has a robust Paralympic team.

“As a country that participated in many wars since 1980, we have many disabled people,” said Ahmed Abid Hassan, a wheelchair fencing coach. “Our Paralympic team is better than our Olympic team.” ...

...Read the entire article (free registration may be required).

British Show Features Eight Disabled Women Competing to Be Models

Britian's Missing Top Model - Eight young disabled women discover what it takes to be a model while competing for a photo shoot and appearance in a top fashion magazine. (More).

Parents Fight for "Right to Life" for Daughter w/ Tay-Sachs

From the BBC (July 1):

Parents fight for 'right to life'

A couple say they face a legal battle with a hospital to keep alive their six-year-old daughter in future.

Amber Hartland, from Cwmbran, Torfaen, has an incurable brain disorder and needs intensive care treatment in Cardiff when she gets chest infections...

...Last Friday Mrs Hartland and her husband Nick were told doctors wanted to withdraw the option of her being put in intensive care and given life-saving procedures in future.

This is what the courts would be asked to decide upon...

...Read the entire article.

 

Disabled Victims of Nazis Honored

From the BBC (May 11):

Nazis' disabled victims honoured 

The UK's first memorial to the one million disabled people who were persecuted, sterilised or killed by Nazi Germany has been unveiled.

Survivors, celebrities and disability groups were at the event, where a rose and plaque were dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust's disabled victims.

Plans for a permanent sculpture were also revealed at the Holocaust Centre in Laxton, Nottinghamshire...

...Read more.

China earthquake leaves high level of amputees, hurdles getting rehab

From the Los Angeles Times (June 9):

Disabled earthquake victims face tough road in China
About 50,000 of the injured are likely to suffer permanent disabilities, including many with amputated limbs. They face a social stigma and hurdles getting rehabilitation.

By Don Lee, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

...The official injury count from the deadly May 12 quake is staggering -- more than 370,000 people. Among them, 50,000 are likely to be disabled, including many with amputated limbs, according to government and health industry sources.

"I would estimate there would be thousands of amputees from the earthquake," said Lan Xiufu, an orthopedics doctor at Chongqing Daping Hospital who has done about 100 amputation surgeries on Sichuan quake patients. He said about 30% to 40% of them were performed on children.

These victims face numerous hurdles getting rehabilitation and counseling, especially in rural areas...

...Read the entire article.

A Voice of Disability from Africa, Part 1

Jenifer Simpson, AAPD's Sr. Director, Telecommunications & Technology Policy, recently returned from a trip to Africa in conjunction with work she is doing with the United Nations on the technology accessibility provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Jenifer met many advocates from the African continent during her travels, and several intend to share their stories, in their own words, here on the blog.

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A Voice of Disability from Africa


Guest Column
By Moses Gonsi

I am Moses from Nigeria. Here is my disability story:

I am Moses Gonsi, born on the 3rd of April, 1973. I come from Lewe Town in Gokana, a local government area of Rivers state, Nigeria.

Born deformed, I  was put in a basket and abandoned in a place called the Forbidden Forest in my village by my father, who was amongst the people that stood strong in ensuring that an age-long tradition of killing deformed and twin babies was respected.

So I was kept in the forest where ants moved around the basket but the mystery was that they never got inside. I was exposed to the harsh conditions of the weather and other things for several days but remained alive and unhurt until I was picked up by a hunter. He then handed me over to a nurse that took care of me, and later to a chief, who in turn brought me to Port Harcourt Cheshire Home, where I reside till date.

My guardian, his royal majesty, late king (Justice) Ambros E. Allagoa (King of Nembe Kingdom) till his death and his wife left no stone unturned in giving me a formal education. I had my nursery education at Fatima Nursery School, Port Harcourt.  Thereafter, I proceeded to St. John’s State School, later to Baptist High School, all in Port Harcourt, where I obtained my senior school certificate.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get admission into a higher institution yet.

Though disabled I acknowledge the fact that there is ability in disability. I went into a small-scale poultry farming enterprise at the home where I am now residing. I am of the Anglican faithful and totally into Gospel music.  I love singing, planting and growing flowers, traveling and engaging in activities that will improve the problems of humanity.

I have been to London with the opportunity given to me by the late king (Justice) Ambrose E. Allagoa and Leonard Cheshire Foundation International. I strongly believe there are potentials God has embedded in everyone, disabled or not. If given necessary support to unveil my potentials, the heaven will be my limit. Thank you and God bless you.

~Moses Gonsi
Port Harcourt, Nigeria

South African Amputee Swimmer Qualifies for Olympics

From Reuters (May 3):

Amputee Du Toit qualifies for Beijing

SEVILLE, Spain (Reuters) - South African amputee Natalie Du Toit qualified for the Beijing Olympics on Saturday after she finished fourth in the 10km race in the Open Water World Championships.

The 24-year-old, who lost her left leg when she was hit by a car while riding her scooter in 2001, clocked a time of two hours two minutes 7.8 seconds, just 5.1 seconds behind winner Larisa Ilchenko of Russia.

The 10km open water race is making its debut as an Olympic event in Beijing...

...Read more.

Olympic Organizers Apologize for Offensive Manual

From The Sydney Morning Herald (June 2):

Beijing 'sorry' for offending disabled

Beijing Olympics organisers have apologised for offending disabled people and scrapped a training manual for volunteers which sparked a wave of protest.

The offending guide has been pulled while authorities revise "inappropriate language" applied to the disabled.

"Some mistakes were made in describing people with disabilities," said a website statement from the organising body BOCOG...

...Read more.

Advocates Outraged by Bejing Olympics Guide that Refers to Disabled as Stubborn, Unsocial, and Defensive

Excerpts from the Times Online (from the UK) (May 27):

Disabled groups outraged by Beijing snub

By Ashling O’Connor, Olympics Correspondent

Disabled groups reacted with outrage yesterday to an official guide for assistants at the Beijing Olympic Games that describes them as unsocial, stubborn and defensive...

...The section of the manual entitled “Skills for helping the disabled” goes on to say: “Some physically disabled are isolated, unsocial, and introspective. They can be stubborn and controlling . . . defensive and have a strong sense of inferiority.

“Sometimes they are overly protective of themselves, especially when they are called crippled or paralysed. Do not use ‘cripple’ or ‘lame’ even if you are just joking.”

The guide, distributed to 100,000 volunteers before the Olympics in August and the Paralympics in September, sparked outrage in among disabled groups...

...Read more.

Canadian Currency to Improve for Those with Vision Impairments

From the Canadian Press (May 21):

Bank of Canada redesigning currency to better help visually impaired

OTTAWA — Call it the case of the disappearing dots.

Canada's paper currency is gradually losing the tiny bumps placed in the upper right corner of modern bills that have helped the blind know what denomination they have in hand. The raised dots are not braille but are arranged in patterns that a blind person can feel to quickly identify a denomination, from $5 to $100.

The dots were added to the so-called Canadian Journey series of bank notes, introduced in 2001 after extensive consultations with groups representing the visually impaired.

The dots were specially treated to ensure they endured, but they've been flattening out with use and have become unreadable...

...Read more.