Sports rehab center aids Tibetan kid

It was late autumn in the Tibet autonomous region, with snow covering the distant mountains and the air getting chilly.

A group of Tibetan children at a sports rehabilitation training center hardly felt the cold as they enthusiastically played.

Whoops and cheers filled the air as the children, enthusiastic about the new center at the Chamdo City Special Educational School, participated in a training class.

The center－Tibet's first physical rehabilitation training facility for special education students－was donated by welfare organizations in Tianjin, which have been supporting special education in Chamdo for years.

It was jointly launched by the Tianjin Tianti Youth Sports Public Welfare Development Center, the Tianjin University of Sport, the Chamdo City Education and Sports Bureau, and the Chamdo City Special Educational School.

Wang Jian, dean of the school of social sports and health sciences at the university, said that the center is designed for children with cerebral palsy, physical disabilities, autism and audiovisual impairments in Chamdo.

"Through strength training, posture control, coordination and balance training, which improve their sports ability, the center encourages the children to get more involved with society and improves the quality of life for these vulnerable groups," Wang said.

The Tianjin University of Sport and the Tianti center have raised more than 400,000 yuan ($62,000) to fund the project, the center said.

Ma Xiaowei, who works at Tianti, said the various games are developed for the children to help arouse their enthusiasm.

According to Ma, her center has been offering welfare services in Chamdo for three years, along with physical fitness monitoring for more than 10,000 Tibetan children.

Ma, who also has an 11-year-old child herself, has been using her national holidays to work with the children in Tibet over the past three years.

"I could not spend my National Day holidays with my child over the past three years, but I am pleased and proud with my choice to spend that time in Tibet with children who needed our help," she said.

"I think it's more meaningful to spend my holidays like this."

Lhundrub Losang, school headmaster of the Chamdo City Special Educational School, said he appreciates the constant support his school has been receiving from the Tianjin University of Sport in the last few years.

"They have provided great support for disabled children, and they also have been training our teachers for years," he said.

"I want to give my heartfelt thanks to them, especially for building such a physical rehabilitation center for the disabled children in our school."

Tenzin Thartso, a child at the center, said she wanted her mother to take a picture of her rock climbing in a class recently.

"I want my mother to know that I can do rock climbing," the 10-year-old said.