Originally published in China Youth Magazine, No. 22, 2021
Editor's Note:
At present, there are 85 million disabled people, 250 million children aged 0-6, 264 million elderly people over 60 years old, more than 20 million pregnant women in China, and more than 600 million special groups with long-term disabilities or temporary lack of normal activity ability. The construction of barrier-free environment has become the people's growing urgent desire for a better life.
In recent years, the party and the state have also attached great importance to the construction and development of barrier-free undertakings. The outline of the "14th Five-Year Plan" proposes to accelerate the construction of information accessibility and help the elderly and the disabled to share digital life; promote the adaptation of public facilities to the aging and promote the extension of professional institution services to the community; strengthen the capacity building of service facilities and comprehensive services for the disabled, and improve the policy system for the construction and maintenance of barrier-free environments. General Secretary Xi Jinping once pointed out: "The construction of barrier-free facilities is a symbol of a country and social civilization, and we must attach great importance to it. ”
This issue launches a special report on the annual youth figure style display activity "Tribute to Barrier-free Development". The event was planned by Lu Shiming, vice chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, and co-sponsored by China Youth Magazine and the Institute of Barrier-free Development of Tsinghua University. Among the nearly 80 candidates shortlisted through organizational recommendation, social recommendation, personal self-recommendation, etc., after comprehensive evaluation by experts, 10 were selected as the annual youth figures of "Tribute to Barrier-free Development", and 20 were the focus of young people, and their stories were written into our reports.
Among these ten young people, some of them are disabled and committed to leading more disabled friends into the society, and the demand for barrier-free environments is expressed loudly; some people transform barrier-free theoretical research into practical results, empowering social services with scientific and technological innovation; some people carry out barrier-free concept dissemination all year round and insist on promoting legislation... Whether it is a disability or a simple desire for kindness, everyone is different in their fields, but all of them have devoted themselves to the construction of barrier-free undertakings for many years, and they have worked hard and gained.
I hope that we can use words to burn the progress of the barrier-free cause, and we can also use our hearts and feelings to depict the people who lift up and promote every small progress. We also hope that in the next year, we can continue to drum and shout for the development of barrier-free causes, and we can be relieved to see more people join us, condensing a larger and warmer force on "barrier-free love".
Love, Accessibility - "Tribute to Barrier-free Development" Young Person of the Year (1)
Wang Jiapeng: Remove obstacles and leave love behind
@Text/Reporter Hao Zhizhou
The snow was white and the wind whistled in your ears. Wang Jiapeng sat on a ski and sped down from a high place, like an arrow off the string.
Alpine downhill is one of the most difficult events in skiing. Especially with a sitting position, with a lower center of gravity and faster speed, between the lightning stone fire, he has slid out a long way.
It was as if he was flying close to the ground in the snow, and at that moment, Wang Jiapeng felt as if he were running again. For a young man with paralysis of both lower limbs, this long-lost freedom is like a farewell to the past and a declaration of embarking on a journey into the future.
The finish line is in sight. In 1999, at the age of 19, Wang Jiapeng won two gold medals at the 36th World Para Ski Competition held in Norway, allowing the five-star red flag to fly high over the Betosla Ski Resort for the first time.
A smile bloomed like sunshine on his childish face. Fate had pushed him hard, but he gritted his teeth and stood up, responding with strength and indomitability.
"At that time, I was on crutches, and it was everyone's love and help that made me knock on the door that had been closed." Many years later, talking about himself at that time, Wang Jiapeng still sighed with emotion. Since then, helping more people push the door on the switch, helping more people challenge themselves, and moving towards the dream of life has become what Wang Jiapeng wants to do most.
I have a dream
This is an international school located on the shore of Kuncheng Lake in Changshu City, with a bright and elegant architectural style and a quiet and peaceful campus. Students from nearly 100 countries and regions around the world from different backgrounds gather here to take their first steps to the world stage through rigorous study.
Wang Jiapeng (middle) with the students
Since its inception, this non-profit high school has trained more than 1,400 students from 124 countries and regions, and the five graduates have been admitted to the world's top universities and won the title of "Dark Horse of the Fujian Academy" in the industry.
"China Changshu World United College", Wang Jiapeng is one of the founders of this school. In 2015, after a year and a half of intensive construction, the school was completed. "It was a particularly rainy summer." Wang Jiapeng remembers very clearly that until the first three days of the student's arrival, he and his team had been rushing to work.
The night the first batch of students moved into their respective dormitories, Wang Jiapeng and his colleagues walked on campus, looking at the brightly lit buildings, excited tears flowing between their cheeks: "I think this dream has really come true..." He couldn't help but think of the young man 15 years ago with crutches and only two hundred dollars in his pocket. ”
In July 1993, a rare air crash occurred at Yinchuan Airport in Ningxia, with only 40 of the 108 passengers and five crew members on board surviving. The young Wang Jiapeng was one of the survivors of the air crash. But the disaster dealt him hard-to-heal damage: damage to hydrocephalus, a fractured spine, paraplegia in both lower limbs, and his permanent inability to walk. 12-year-old teenagers have to endure unbearable pain and unbearable physical pain, and psychologically they have to endure the earth-shaking collapse brought about by accidents.
Love will not give up on anyone. In order to get him back on his feet, his mother dropped everything in her hands and took him to begin five years of rehabilitation. After making great efforts, Wang Jiapeng was finally able to walk on crutches.
It wasn't enough to just stand up, he had to catch up and catch up with his peers. Wang Jiapeng set himself a goal to start exercising every day before the sun came out, so that he could save more time for studying. Therefore, in five years, Wang Jiapeng, who only had a primary school culture, overcame the difficulties that normal people could not imagine such as memory loss caused by brain damage, self-taught and completed all courses and college English courses from junior high school to high school, and also learned computer programming and application operations. In the hospital, his happiest moment is that after every day of treatment, he can find a quiet place to study.
But anyone who can't beat you will eventually make you stronger. In 1998, the Nordic Red Cross World Union College (UWC) in Norway enrolled for the first time in China, with only one enrollment place and will provide a full scholarship for students with physical disabilities. Wang Jiapeng, who was also treated at the rehabilitation center, took the exam and stood out among the many outstanding candidates, becoming the first student in the Chinese mainland to enter the World Union College.
Two years of UWC's life completely rewrote his life, "let me learn to be independent, gave me courage ... More importantly, it taught me to dare to have dreams and work hard for them. Although he must rely on crutches to support walking, but with the encouragement of the teacher, Wang Jiapeng not only studied hard, but also actively participated in the school's skiing, rubber boating, swimming and other sports, he became famous in the 36th World Paralympic Ski Competition, and was praised by the locals as a "Chinese hero" with two gold medals.
Wang Jiapeng, deputy to the 13th National People's Congress, founder of Changshu World Union College and chairman of the board of directors of Changshu World Union College, China
On the day of graduation, Wang Jiapeng, who was on crutches, solemnly proposed to President Tony Macoun: I have a dream, I want to bring the United World College to China!
"I was talking about this dream with two crutches, two boxes, and only two hundred dollars in my pocket, but I felt that my dream was not out of reach." Graduation is only the first stop in life, education, to teach us not only the knowledge of books, but also to give people more dreams. Wang Jiapeng decided that he would use his life's efforts to practice this concept and give more people the possibility of flying.
Remove obstacles and leave behind love
A person's dream is weak. But the life after the air accident left Wang Jiapeng a valuable fortune: never give up easily. He sought the support of teachers and principals in many ways, sought the help of alumni, and turned one person's dream into two people, and then split into four people... Little by little, after 15 365 days of hard work, he finally founded the only Chinese mainland and the fifteenth world union college in the world on the shore of Kuncheng Lake.
The buildings of Changshu United World College are quite distinctive, and the rows of octagonal towers are particularly conspicuous. At the beginning of the design, Wang Jiapeng specifically proposed that there are four students living in a dormitory, and each student should be equal, "No matter where he comes from, no matter what his physical condition is, no matter what color he is, what class he is, everyone must have a window." "That's where the OctagonAl Tower comes from.
Opening a window for everyone does not only refer to physical windows, but also to education to open a window of the soul for everyone. The scholarship he won that year made Wang Jiapeng's life "reborn", he opened his own door, and he also wanted to leave a window and open a door for more people.
Li Siyuan, a 2017 graduate, is a girl on both crutches who has undergone seven surgeries for bone cancer. Through the support of the school's bursary and personal efforts, she successfully completed her studies, enrolled in Worcester Institute of Technology in the United States, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at the Institute of Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University in the United States.
Zhao Chen, a graduate of the Class of 2021, is a fully blind student, and the school funded him to complete his studies with a full bursary. During his time at the school, he actively participated in various activities in the school, constantly challenged himself, and learned to swim and kayak. In 2021, he was accepted on a full scholarship to the University of Iowa.
Over the past five years, the school has provided about 40% of its students with different proportions of financial aid, and a total of 664 students have benefited from 280 million yuan in financial aid. These include students with disabilities and students from families with difficulties, giving them the same opportunity to obtain the highest quality International Education in China.
"There are two very important forces in the world, one is the power of love and the other is the power of education." Using this power to remove obstacles, whether physical or psychological, can give people a broad space without hindrances. This is Wang Jiapeng's dream and the cause he pursues.
42 barrier-free ramps, 68 barrier-free toilets, more than 120 light doors without threshold stones and visualizations, and 22 elevators for the disabled, all of which are barrier-free facilities throughout the school, are because he is able to experience the many inconveniences of the disabled in life and the desire for a barrier-free environment." In addition, Wang Jiapeng, who was elected as a deputy to the National People's Congress, is also actively promoting the inclusion of barrier-free environment in legislative planning, using laws to ensure the high-quality development of barrier-free environment construction, and meeting the growing urgent needs of the disabled, the elderly, and all members of society for barrier-free environments.
During the two sessions in 2020, Wang Jiapeng, together with other NPC deputies, submitted the "Proposal on Including the Law on Barrier-free Environment Construction in the Legislative Plan of the NPC Standing Committee in 2021", which was highly valued by the NPC Social Construction Committee. In 2021, he once again submitted the "Proposal on Establishing a Municipal Travel Barrier-free Comprehensive Service Platform" to the National People's Congress, and put forward a proposal to ensure the barrier-free environment from the perspective of procuratorial public interest litigation, hoping to effectively implement the high-quality construction of China's barrier-free environment with the rule of law power of public interest litigation.
"One person's dream is just a dream, and a group of people's dreams can come true." Wang Jiapeng said that he hopes that all sectors of society can participate together, provide more learning opportunities and a more inclusive environment for physically challenged children, and open a "door" for more children. ”
Producer: Pi Jun
Final Judgement: Lin Yuhong
Reviewer: Chen Min, Liu Xiao, Liu Bowen
Editor: Ye Xiaolin (Intern)