Taipei Education Care Award winners named

2014-12-26

Forty physically challenged students in Taipei City were honored with Education Care Awards Dec. 24, aiming to encourage students with rare diseases or in poverty to adopt a positive attitude.

“These students have demonstrated an undefeatable will to excel despite all forms of adversity,” said Lin Yi-hua, commissioner of Taipei City Government’s Department of Education. “They are truly a source of inspiration for their classmates.”

One such awardee is sixth-grader Lin Yu-jie, who was born visually impaired. Her poor eyesight only allows her to differentiate colors and form blurry images of nearby objects.

Even so, Lin has excelled at swimming and piano playing. The 11-year-old girl has swum across Sun Moon Lake twice and won many swimming prizes.

“I enjoy swimming a lot, because I can do it without anyone’s assistance,” Lin said. She also expressed gratitude to her parents, who also suffer from bad vision, for teaching her how to “feel” complicated graphics on textbooks.

Lin said she wished that her vision were better so that she could “take a good look at the whole world.”

Another winner is 11th-grader Zhou Yu-xuan, who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease that causes muscular weakness.

The disease makes it difficult for Zhou to walk, let alone run. She used to ask her mom when she would be able to dance like other kids. But this challenge has not kept her from writing, even when her ever-weakening hands do not allow her to write for more than 30 minutes.

Having already won several composition contests, the strong-willed girl on her wheelchair swore to write on against all odds. She hoped to become a special education teacher to help other similarly challenged youths find their own ways in life.

A total of 234 students with physical or financial difficulties won awards this year. Each received an award certificate and scholarship of NT$10,000 (US$330), while the most outstanding 40 were also bestowed a medal and an extra cash award of NT$5,000.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=225603&CtNode=413)