The high percentage of people willing to help the athletes with a disability
is encouraging. However, how to translate it to real terms when recruiting
volunteers is a problem that needs great attention, according to officials with
the Volunteer Department of BOCOG.
About 51 per cent of the respondents who are willing to become volunteers are
company employees, while 22 per cent are college students.
BOCOG officials said they were considering working with government agencies
to draft some favourable policies to encourage companies and universities to
support their employees and students to serve the Paralympics.
Training of volunteers is another urgent and complicated task. Most of the
respondents believe that knowledge of disabilities, how best to support them and
foreign languages are the top three attributes needed.
About 80 per cent of those polled have studied English, and 4 per cent have
knowledge of other foreign languages, such as French, Japanese, German, Russian
and Spanish. However, among those who know a foreign language, only 4 per cent
have mastered it, and 14 per cent can speak and write to a good level. The
remainder can only speak and write some basic words and sentences.
Apart from language training, volunteers also need to get a deeper
understanding of the support needed by athletes with a disability, and avoid
saying or doing anything that could damage their self-esteem. For instance,
volunteers should get their approval before helping them.
Zhao Jihua, a former member of the executive council of the China Disabled
Persons Federation, who has organized many sports meetings for the disabled,
said respondents' concerns over how best to support the athletes related to the
general lack of understanding of people with a disability and the world they
live in.
"As long as you treat them as you would your own relatives or friends, and
try not to take pity on them but treat them as equals, then you will be able to
give proper help to them rather than making them feel uneasy," Zhao said.
"I'm glad to see that so many people are willing to serve for the
Paralympics, and their work will help draw the whole nation's attention to the
difficulties faced by disabled people in China."
During the Summer Olympics and the Paralympics in 2008, Beijing needs around
100,000 volunteers, and about 30,000 of them will work for the Paralympic Games.
BOCOG has worked out a volunteer recruitment programme according to its
Strategic Plan and Action Plan for the Beijing 2008 Games, drawing on the
successful experiences of previous Games in these areas. The volunteer programme
also offers a chance for persons with a disability to serve the Games directly.
"About 100 to 200 of the volunteers for the Beijing Paralympic Games will be
persons with a disability," said Ma Dajun, vice-board chairman of the Beijing
Disabled Persons Federation. "They may participate in varied jobs such as
interpretation, computer work and massage."
The Beijing Paralympic Games will be held between September 6 and 17, 2008.
With the most sports competitions in its history, it will feature a total of 20
sports. Of the total, 18 sports will be held in Beijing, with the sailing events
contested in Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province and the equestrian events
in Hong Kong.
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