A Giant photo wall to commemorate the 2007 Special Olympics in
Shanghai was activated yesterday at the Jiangwan Sports Center in
Yangpu District.
Named "Memory Wall," it also aims to extend the spirit of the
Special Olympics in society.
At the activating ceremony, officials including Li Weiting, head
of the competition department of the Special Olympics Steering
Committee, together with intellectually challenged people and
student representatives, made a composite picture of "the eye,"
logo of the Special Olympics, by pasting dozens of photos on the
wall.
Zhou Taitong, chairman of the steering committee and city vice
mayor, with Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics,
finished "the eye" after pasting the final photo onto the wall, and
then Zhou announced the successful activation of the Special
Olympics Photo Wall.
Each photo features people involved in the Games, including
Special Olympics athletes in competition and the volunteers working
in every area for the athletes.
Most of the photos were taken by Special Olympics volunteers,
who were the first group of contributors to the photo wall.
"The Special Olympics not only has drawn the attention of people
in our country, but has also become a spirit for the citizens to
follow," said Chen Zhenmin, head of the volunteer department of the
Special Olympics Steering Committee.
"The process of hosting the events is full of devotion and
happiness and gives us so many emotions, which will be the eternal
memories written into the annals of Shanghai's history. So the idea
of building a memory wall was created," Chen said.
Cai Jingqi, a student representative from Fudan University and
volunteer of the Special Olympics, also shared her thoughts about
the meaning of the program.
"We felt uneasy at first as volunteers, but after becoming
familiar with the athletes all the uneasy feeling just disappeared
and we sang and danced with them," she said.
"The happiness and affections they brought to us have far
exceeded what we gave, and I have decided to bring the spirit of
equality, inclusiveness and solidarity into campus."
On the open plaza of the Jiangwan Sports Center, the first batch
of photos taken by university students during the Special Olympics
was also on show with four themes: Where dreams start, I know I
can, Harmonious society and Living under the same blue sky.
The steering committee also called on the people who have taken
pictures for the Special Olympics to contribute, and the selected
photos will also be pasted on the wall.
Contrasting with the historical architecture of the Jiangwan
Sports Center, the photo wall will stand as a cultural landmark in
the center.
(Shanghai Daily October 8, 2007)