United Nations Radio

Around 650 million, or one-tenth of all people in the world, have a disability. In December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a landmark treaty that guarantees the human rights of disabled people. But it is up to each country to incorporate its provisions into its legislation. In this report adapted from UN Television, Bissera Kostova presents the story of a disabled man in Hong Kong, China.

SFX (girls in car)

NARR: In Hong Kong, China, Andrew Kwok is doing something he thought he would never be able to do.

Kwok: When I was asked to be the driver of the beautiful girls, of my daughter's friends and of course, of my daughter, that was the proudest moment of my life.

NARR: He's taking his daughter and her friends to their high school graduation prom. He has come a long way from a time when as a young man, he once thought of taking his own life. Born with cerebral palsy and unable to walk, Andrew was devastated when the parents of a girl he dated for eight years forced him to break off the relationship.

Kwok: Her parents thought that being a disabled person in the wheelchair, what future would I have? They thought that I couldn't have the ability to take care of their only child.

NARR: Attitudes like that are the biggest hurdles people with disabilities must overcome. But, as Andrew's life shows, given equal opportunities and access to essential information and services, the physically challenged can live full and independent lives. Andrew was the youngest of five children. His parents were poor and they lived in a small hut high in the mountains.

Kwok: In those days, I had no wheelchair and I couldn't walk. So I had to use a little stool to move myself one step at a time. I had no friends. I was so lonely because every day when my brothers and sisters went to school I was left alone at home. Until one day a social worker knocked at the door and found me and asked if I had any schooling. It was 1967; I was at the age of ten.

NARR: Andrew was enrolled in the John F. Kennedy School, the first of its kind in Hong Kong, that provides free education for persons with disabilities living in poverty. He says the education he got there completely transformed his life.

Kwok: The principal, Miss Marian Fang, a legendary figure now in the rehabilitation world, taught us always to regard yourself as a normal person; you don't sit there to receive other's help. But you offer help to others.

NARR: With that inspiration, Andrew became the first citizen of Hong Kong with a disability to get a driver's license. He went on to earn a master's degree. He married and has two children. Today, Andrew supports his family working as a legal consultant managing cases mostly for people who have had traumatic accidents. Anna Wu, a top government policy advisor and an advocate for disability rights in Hong Kong, says there is still a long way to go to ensuring that all disabled people have the same opportunities as Andrew.

Wu: The rights are there, but we have not seen is that these rights for people to enjoy must be clearly supported and articulated.

NARR: For UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

Duration: 3'04"