Esther Vergeer: The Wheel Chair Tennis Champ

Eesther Vergeer, 29, lost control over her legs when she was 8. Ever since, she has excelled in basketball and tennis, even in the wheel chair. When she became older, her parents advised her to practice tennis only so that she can show others that she was a normal person.

Now, she is the eleven-year champion of wheel chair tennis. She has one about four hundred matches without losing a single set. She has one over 96 percent of all the single matches she played, compared to Roger Federer's 81 percent. Her dominance in the sport is comparable to Tiger Wood's reign in professional golf. She most recently won the finals of the U.S. Open with a 6-1, 6-2 breezing victory. Her coach, Groeneveld, who also coaches many top female seeds, is constantly astounded by the strong determination of Esther.

Esther says she will continue to try her best until she is old enough to retire. However, she is not sure what she will do when she retires from professional wheel chair tennis.

Mt. Namsan "Million-Person" Walk

On September 11, 2010, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will be hosting the Mt. Namsan "Million-Person" Walk. It will be a 7.5 km trail around Mt. Namsan, the largest mountain in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Many celebrities and famous people will be part of the walk. The contestants of the 2010 Miss South Korea Beauty Pageant and Hwang Young-Jo, the gold-medalist of the marathon even in the Barcelona Olympics, will be participate in this festival. Many participants will receive gifts encouraging the help of disabled people. The festival will last from 9:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. This is the first of numerous walking festivals for disabled people hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Visit to the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)

Me with Guoan Li
(I'm the one in the black shirt)

On July 21, 2010, I visited the bioengineering lab of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). It is one of the largest and the most prestigious hospitals in the world. Nearly ninety thousand people move in and out of the hospital. On July 21, 2010, I visited the bioengineering lab of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The hospital boasts top-notch care, innovative research, and intensive teaching. It is most famous for its orthopedic studies. Led by Guoan Li, a Chinese professor, the group publishes many papers and performs hundreds of surgeries. That day, I toured around the research center. I met and talked with Guaon Li about his research. He said that he enjoys his research very much.

Me in front of a mechanical limb

Guoan Li and his crew create robots and other mechanical limbs in order to assist handicaps and other disabled people. In a large storage room beside his lab, there are multitudes of robot limbs. Thanks to their creations, the Massachusetts General Hospital uses them all the time in surgeries and rehabilitating patients.

A Handicap Who Struggled

Donovan Forde was a cute baby until he was six months old. He laughed and he loved singing, especially nursery rhymes such as "Baa Baa Black Sheep". One day, Mrs. Forde left the house for a day of work and arrived late at night at her parent's house. They said that "something happened to the baby". When Mrs. Forde rushed to the hospital, she saw Donovan, a six-month old infant covered with equipment and pipes. He was in a fatal coma. When Mr. Forde, Donovan's father went to buy a baby bottle, he left Donovan in his friend's care. While the friend and Donovan was walking along Broadway, an under-age driver handling a stolen car crashed into them at top speed. The friend's leg was obliterated and Donovan fell on the cement pavement so hard on his head that his heart jolted and did not beat for days. After six weeks of coma, Donovan revived, but his optical nerves and other part of his nervous system was utterly destroyed. Then, after some time, he came back home, with a new self. (bottom: Donovan is being visited by his mother and little brother)

When Mrs. Forde had a second son, she made the heart-rending decision to send Donovan to Coler-Goldwater Memorial Hospital, where he could be monitored 24-7 and Mrs. Forde did not have to pay the bills. There, Donovan learned the most basic things that an infant could master in weeks. Because his optic nerves were destroyed, the first thing he learned was to blink his eyes, which he barely manages to do right now. Then, he learned fundamental math and science, which are a necessity in daily lives. In a three-month science course, Donovan was taught how to identify and differentiate seeds and fruits. Donovan touches the seeds and fruits for hours, make queer sounds, and just stares blankly at the teacher. The teacher is afraid that he does not know if Donovan understands what seeds and fruits are. Fortunately, Donovan is making quite a progress in science. On the other hand, Donovan is severely struggling with math. Math is all about seeing coins, bills, and numbers. Since Donovan is blind, he has to feel the money. Usually, he spends an entire hour touching the coins and bills, and then gives an answer that is way off the right one. Luckily, Donovan does have a favorite subject: physical education. During physical education, Donovan cries out like a maniac (that is his singing) when the R & B music comes on.

I believe that all the people of the world must understand the state of these people. These handicaps are poor, helpless chaps who don't know what to do. We must help them, both emotionally and physically. The UN and other organizations are doing a nice job and I hope that this continues.

Please refer to : http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/education/20donovan.html?ref=handicapped

Franklin Roosevelt's Victory over Polio

While Franklin Delano Roosevelt was vacationing in a park, he fell into the cold waters of a lake. After, he continued to play with his children. The same day, he felt slight chills in his lower body. These chills worsened and a slight fever appeared. Within two weeks, Roosevelt was permanently paralyzed from the waist downwards. He could not move any muscle in his lower body without another person's assistance. At first, Roosevelt was shocked that he contracted a severe case of polio in the middle of his early political career. Then, he thought that in order to continue his politcal career, he must convince other people that he is getting better. Therefore, he never allowed the press to cover him when he was in a wheelchair. Roosevelt refused to believe that he was paralyzed and always made his son support him on one arm while the other held a cane. After Franklin Roosevelt became President, he created the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Thus, his face was stamped on the American dime. Fortunately, Roosevelt did get better and only his lower legs were paralyzed by the time he died. This American President is the role model for disabled people. He overcame his severe paralysis, helped other paralyzed Americans and successfully adapted to the American political system.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

On December 13, 2006, the United Nations Headquarters in New York adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This new convention will bring about a great change. It will encourage people to view handicaps as humans with the same set of rights as regular people instead of “objects” of medical treatment and help. In short, this United Nations Convention will bring the same rights to disables as those of normal people.

There are eight principles that are the fundamentals of the convention:
1. Disables must be able to have individual autonomy.
2. Handicaps must not be discriminated.
3. Disabled humans must always be included in society.
4. They must be regarded as a unique and vital part of humanity.
5. They must have equal opportunities as regular people.
6. They must have access to the same resources as normal humans.
7. Disabled men and women must have equal rights.
8. Disabled children must have the right to preserve their identities.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will make sure that the articles of the convention are being implemented in the United Nations countries. The group will consist of eighteen professionals, recognizing the challenges of disabilities. These experts will be elected by the Conference of State Parties, a large group of signatories of the United Nations Convention.

Every December 3 is the International Day of Persons of Disabilities. The theme for 2010 is the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This International Day will help raise awareness about the United Nations Conventions and the challenges of disabilities to the world.

Harvard Law School Project on Disability

Harvard Law School has launched a project called the HPOD (Harvard Law School Project on Disability). This project was made in order to strengthen the influence of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It is true that the CRPD helped more than 650 million disabled people all around the world. However, many disabilities do not know how to make their communities realize that disabilities should be treated as the same way as normal people. Likewise, numerous businessmen, leaders, and organizations do not understand the hardships handicaps face with in their everyday life. HPOD strives to allow disabilities and normal humans to know each other better.

There are several ways that HPOD will reach its goals. First, disabilities will be taught about their own rights and know how to achieve them. Members will raise awareness in the normal society about the difficulties of handicaps. Second, HPOD will convince other major international organizations to raise awareness and help disabilities in need. Finally, HPOD will create scholarships for disabilities applying for colleges, high schools, universities, or other academic institutions.