4MyChild: Help and Hope for Life

May 19, 2007

Embracing Disabilities and Breaking Barriers: China’s National Day for the Disabled

Fresno athletic team breaks barriers in China By Vanessa Colón / The Fresno Bee

An athletic team from Fresno flew to China on Thursday to perform a blend of gymnastics, karate kicks, and dance moves with wheelchairs during China’s National Day for the Disabled on Sunday.

They’re performers from Break the Barriers, a Fresno-based nonprofit sports and arts center for the able and disabled. They will show off their skills in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeastern China’s Fujian province.

The 18 athletes and seven professionals will return to the United States on May 28.

The group of teenagers and adults includes members without disabilities and members who are deaf, have Down syndrome or cerebral palsy. But ask them what their disability is and they’ll respond: impatience, cockiness and attitude.

“We are all able and disabled, we have gifts and abilities to share with one another,” said Deby Hergenrader, executive director of Break the Barriers.

This is the third time Break the Barriers has traveled overseas, but the first time they’ve landed in Asia. The group has twice traveled to Romania, where they performed and met “Motivation Romania,” a wheelchair basketball organization.

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