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Peter Simpson

Volunteer carers have been asked not to visit orphanages for disabled children during the Paralympics.
Expatriates including professional physiotherapists have been told to stop their daily visits to three state-run institutions in and around  Beijing. Among those asked to stay away is a Hong-Kong based charity.
'We were told by each orphanage that we could return after the Paralympics, probably in October,' said Eulalia Anderson, 63, who runs the Hong Kong-registered Beijing International Committee for Chinese  Orphans.
In April and May, orphanage directors told Mrs Anderson  and other volunteers that they could not offer their help while the Olympics were on.
The directors said they were acting on orders after visits from Public Security Bureau officers.
'It is part of the general [security crackdown], and it's also a face thing,' said Mrs Anderson, a  Chinese-born  American national who has been running her charity for 10 years since returning to China.  'Having expat volunteers help is not seen as perfect.'
Keith Wyse, another volunteer leader, had been visiting the Langfang orphanage - home to 25 disabled children, 40km outside Beijing in Hebei  province - for more than four years.
'Since just before the Olympics, we have been forbidden from visiting the orphanages,' he said.
Mr Wyse said the ban was a result of a society where disability is still regarded as a source of shame. 'The government sees disabled people and disabled orphans as an embarrassing problem, which they don't know how to deal with.'
The 49-year-old American  runs an independent foster home for disabled children, the website of which - agapefamilyhouse.com - has been blocked by the authorities since just before the Olympics.
'It's only the orphans who suffer,' he said. 'I have to play cat and mouse with the authorities to keep my foster home open.'
The volunteers helped with rehabilitation exercises and general care such as applying  cream for diaper rash to babies and toddlers, and renovating  bedrooms, playrooms and bathrooms. They would also typically donate or repair wheelchairs and other facilities  for  residents.
Medical operations to ease pain and help disfigurements, paid for by charity funds, have also ceased.
Deborah Mason, 37, a British expatriate and volunteer carer, is a visitor to  Shunyi orphanage, which has 40 residents,  from newborns to those in their late teens.
'When we used to arrive, all of the children except for the few who are physically independent were just lying in their cots, though the situation was not horrific,' she said. 'The orphanage is clean and bright, but it is a pretty desperate situation now.'
She said the majority of children had some kind of physical or mental disability such as cleft palates, brittle bones, Down's Syndrome  or cerebral palsy.
'They are either abandoned at birth, or as they get older, their parents can't afford medical care so they are taken to the orphanage.
'There are just two or three [staff] carers on any one shift, so the daily visits by volunteers were vital.'
Beijing Olympic organising committee spokesman Sun Weide   said he was unaware of the temporary ban.
'I will look into this and check with the relevant authorities,' he said.



Volunteer visits  to disabled orphans blocked