30,000 Paralympic volunteers in training

(BEIJING, March 18) – Training for Paralympic volunteers is well underway. According to Beijing Daily, the 30,000 volunteers that have signed up to help out during the Paralympic Games are busy at training sites, practicing for their debut in September. Volunteers are teaching those with visual impairment how to use computers, picking up flyaway ping pong balls for persons with disabilities engaging in table tennis, gathering information on how to best lead those with vision problems, learning how to push wheelchairs, etc.

Aiding people with disabilities during mealtimes is quite an intricate task. First, the visually impaired person must be led carefully to his/her seat. Then, verbally and physically shown where the utensils lie in front of them, after which the actual meal is placed, by the volunteer, onto specific locations on the food plate. All the while, the volunteer is explaining what the food is and issuing warnings about bones and the like, if necessary. Volunteers never feed the people they are helping; the idea of empowerment is in play here.

These volunteers are not only fulfilling a societal need, they are also growing themselves. As they watch and learn, they are influenced by not only by the Olympic spirit, but the innate courageous character of these lively persons they are helping, or maybe, that are actually helping them.