Taiwan Church News
3399 Edition
17 – 23 April, 2017
Headline News
Urging Accessible Environment For The Disabled, An Easter Carnival Held At Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District
Reported by Chen Yi-fan
A community Easter carnival, combining a celebration of the Christ’s resurrection and a calling for an accessible environment, was held in the Gangshan district of Kaohsiung City by Gangshan Welfare Servcie Center For The Disabled(GWSCFTD) in the morning on April 15. Gangshan Welfare Service Center For The Disabled, as an affiliated institute of PCT’s Peace Foundation, is commissioned by Kaohsiung City Government to provide caring service for the disabled in northern Kaohsiung City.
Piercing kinds of balloons, labeled as “Unfriendly Accessibility”, “Unequal Space”, and “Job Discrimination”, Rev Ho Ming-chu(chair woman of Prayer Union of Gangshan Church), Mr Chuang Cheng-chou(village chief of So-tien Village) and Ms Liu Chiu-yueh(director of GWSCFTD) jointly unveiled the community Easter carnival with a vision to build an accessible environment full of love, freedom and honor instead of space inequality and job discrimination.
GWSCFTD has served the disabled in northern Kaohsiung City for over two decades, offering diversified services including early intervention for children, day care for adult and elder people, and many other medicare service and pastoral ministries.
Once admitted into GWSCFTD as a blind child during his age from 2-year-old to 8-year-old, Mr Lo Wen-chien, now is an university student major in English Literature Department of Soochow University, was specially invited to host the programs and share his personal witness and thanksgivings to the GWSCFTD and the community in the Easter carnival. The audience were all deeply encouraged by Mr Lo’s resilient life reminiscent of the faith, hope and love from God.
Taking to the streets with slogans and placrads, read Support The Disabled To Participate In Community, was the leitmotiv of the Easter carnival joined by the members of early intervened children, day care adult and elder people, wheel chaired patients of spinal reconstruction, Association of Job Promotion for the Disabled, caring institutes for the elder and their families. The Easter carnival marched into Gangshan downtown and around the community park was beautifully spectacular and inspired many people.
When so many disabled groups convened together in the Easter carnival like Gangshan district, resources allocation did not become a problem at all, expressed Ms Liu Chiu-yueh, adding that on the contrary this
became an excellent opportunity to encourage the disabled to step out of their shadows and merge into the adorable community around.
Translated by Peter Wolfe
