Blind children taught to be independent at Tibetan school

Located on the "roof of the world', Lhasa City in southwest China is still bathed in early morning mist at 8:00 a.m., an hour that often promises broad daylight in the eastern and central regions.

But weather is never a problem for 19-year-old Gela, who has lost her eyesight and has to rely on a walking stick to feel her way wherever she goes.

She has to leave home early every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday to give classes to blind children at a local training center, where she teaches a class of seven students Braille -- in Tibetan, standard Chinese and English, and organizes the children for sports activities.

Gela herself is one of the six earliest graduates of the tiny school, founded in 2000 by the local federation for handicapped people in the Tibet Autonomous Region and an international non-governmental organization that aims to promote training the blind.

In her spare time, the young teacher also runs a clinic with her schoolmates to provide massage services for tourists and locals alike, and is a perfect masseuse herself.

"Thanks to the training I received here, I'm able to support myself. More importantly, I've regained confidence in life," she said in an interview with Xinhua.

The training center, founded in 2000, teaches the rudiments of arithmetic, writing, singing, painting and gymnastics as well as some professional training to blind children of local peasants andherdsmen.

The students are encouraged to learn massage, painting, knitting and tailoring -- all skills that can help them make a living when they grow up.

Altogether 30 students are being trained at the center, the oldest being 13 years old and the youngest only three.

But neither the striking age difference nor the darkness beforethem have deprived the children of their joy: they laugh, chat, have fun and play tricks as much as any other children their age. Like traditional Chinese schools, these children are divided into groups: "rabbits", "tigers" and "mice".

"The 'rabbits' are above 10 years old, the 'tigers' between six and nine and the 'mice' are preschoolers under six," said Dezhen, a school teacher.

Dezhen said most children have learned to read and write in three languages -- standard Chinese, Tibetan and English. "

They are confident, happy and energetic like any other kids," she said. Some of the more diligent graduates of the school have continued their education at local primary or secondary schools, she added.

It is estimated that Tibet has 33,507 blind people, including 6,096 children. "Blind children should learn more skills in order to be responsible for themselves and society," said Sabriye Tenberken, a young woman from Germany who has been helping the blind children of Tibet achieve independence and attain a sense of dignity.

Tenberken herself was diagnosed with a serious eye disease in childhood and became completely blind at 12. She and her husband came to Tibet in 1998 to help found the school.

System of Tibetan finger language

In recent days, the first minority finger language-Tibetan finger language was opened out successfully and it is under spreading among the Tibetan deaf-mutes. This system is the result of the cooperation of Tibet Disabled Persons' Federation and the related international aid-disabled persons’ organization; it has lasted for three years and is consisted of over seven hundred normal Tibetan finger language gestures.

On May 15th, the teacher Tshe brtan Sgrol dkar, who comes from the international aid-disabled persons club of Tibetan finger language, was teaching the Tibetan students of Lhasa Special School Tibetan letters with Tibetan finger language.

On the same day, students of Lhasa Special School were communication with Tibetan finger language.

On the same day, a Tibetan student of Lhasa Special School, Mkhas Grub was learning Tibetan finger language carefully.

Lhasa unfolded activity of aid disabled persons

Tibetan blind children are typing with Tibetan braille.

In recent days, Lhasa Beijing middle road and Yutuo road unfolded activity of aid disabled persons and including Tibet Disabled Persons' Federation, Lhasa Special School and Tibet Service Center for disabled persons, lots of units attended the activity

Tibetan disabled children are embroidering.

Recently 20 thousand people, who suffer from cataracts, were cured and over 200 deaf children have been trained with audition, some of the deaf children started to open their mouths to speak.

This is the Tibetan disabled persons' three wheels motor bicycle group.

The total number of Tibet individual handicapped workers is 3465 and this is mainly because Tibetan disabled persons career has received the support of Tibet party and different nations.

Society extends a helping hand to the nation's disabled

The disabled members of Chinese society and others get to enjoy a special day on the third Sunday of each May, "National Aid to the Disabled Day."

And the Sunday just past - the 14th such day in the annual event's history - was extra special for Liu Qiang, 5, who has hearing disabilities. Liu, from Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, received an hearing aid as a gift.

It has improved his hearing greatly and Liu is expected to study with other children at a school in the future, said Sun Yougui, director of the Centre for Deaf Children in Heilongjiang, who organized the hearing aid donation.

"One-third of the country's disabled citizens have hearing problems," Sun said. "With proper hearing aid, many of them can improve their hearing and language abilities, especially children."

In Lhasa of the Tibet Autonomous Region, hospitals have given local disabled residents thorough medical consultations.In the past several years, thousands of cataract patients in Tibet have regained their sight through free operations.

In Tianjin in the nation's north, auctions of art works donated by local artists and collectors have been held to help gather money for the city's disabled.

Thanks to continuous support by governments and non-government organizations, disabled people have experienced enormous changes and improvements in terms of education, living conditions and employment since the Law on the Protection of the Disabled came into effect 13 years ago, said Deng Pufang, chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation.

Deng says the government will devote the first two decades of this century to improving the basic conditions of disabled people and protecting their basic rights.

Raising funds with shows

"If you have a brother or sister who is disabled, you will understand how heavy a burden the family bears and how desperately they need help," said Liu Shusheng, chairman of the Jinan Disabled Persons' Federation in East China's Shandong Province.

"The disabled could be brothers or sisters of your best friends, your husband or wife, or even yourself one day."

The help offered by Jinan residents has greatly eased the lives of the city's 250,000 disabled, since the city started a project called "My Brothers and Sisters in Our Community" in 2002.

Although born blind, Yuan Guoping, 27, can see bright future ahead with the help of his community in the Shunyulu residential district.

Yuan has had to depend on family support for years. He then started earning some money after learning massage skills and working in a massage shop.

Yuan wanted to open his own massage shop, but was held back due to a lack of funds.

But things came together last year thanks to the support of his neighbourhood committee, which gave Yuan 2,000 yuan (US$240) to start the business and low rent."

The members of my neighbourhood treat me like s family member and many of them are regular clients," Yuan said.

After the shop opened, Yuan married a local woman who is also blind and a masseuse. She is pregnant and the couple are expecting a child in autumn.

To arouse more public awareness of the plight of the disabled, the city has also established a disabled persons' art troupe. Known as "My Brothers and Sisters," it has performed seven large shows in the past two years.

Thousands of audience members have been touched by the spirit and ability of the performers.

The shows have helped raise more than 3 million yuan (US$360,000) each year - about five times more than funds the city raised for disabled people before.

Registered late last year with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce as a trademark, "My Brothers and Sisters" has also branched out to yield famous artworks such as paintings and paper cuttings, successful art shows and even established convenience shops.

Thanks to funds raised by the project, more than 1,000 disabled people have had free operations or been fitted with artificial limbs. More than 100 poverty-stricken disabled people have moved into new houses, 33 rehabilitation rooms for the disabled have been built and hundreds of disabled youngsters are now attending school.

Disabled people are still one of the most vulnerable groups in society, with thousands unemployed and poverty rates higher than the national average, said Deng Pufang from the China Disabled Persons' Federation.

Move for a better future

However, the government has pledged continuous effort to help the country's disabled share equal development opportunities with their able-bodied counterparts and achieve greater personal wealth.

Nearly 500 million yuan (US$60 million) has been donated to China's disabled in the past two decades, federation statistics show.

The money was chiefly used for rehabilitation, education and training, poverty alleviation, and employment, said Deng, who won a United Nation's Prize last year in the field of human rights."

The work of the federation revolves around policy and advocacy, education and research, access and civil rights, and leadership and justice. But, really, at its core, it's about the people."

The Chinese Government has earmarked 600 million yuan (US$72.55 million) for the handicapped from 2003 to 2005, to help guarantee a better future.

In addition, China will allocate 100 million yuan (US$12.05 million) each year for the 2008 Paralympic Games from 2006 to 2008. And the construction of infrastructure for the disabled is progressing smoothly throughout the country."

In one sentence, the development of disabled people should be parallel to that of others in China," Deng said.

A blind child of Lhasa School for Blind Children is blowing harmonica.
Nyimari, a 10 blind girl of Lhasa School for Blind Children is typing with Tibetan braille typewriter
A blind girl is combing hair for her classmate

Currently, over 40 blind children study in the Lhasa School for Blind Children, 8 of them have graduated and earn living by massage.

LhasaSchoolfor Blind Children was set up by a blind German woman Sabriye Tenberken and her Netherlandish husband Paul Kronenberg in 1998. Besides the primary education and basic living skill, students also have skill training for occupation such as massage, handcraft weaving which suit for the blind.