When his disabled students, including some mentally impaired ones, said "welcome to our Sweet Home" in English to visiting Paralympians on Sunday, Jiao Shi felt quite satisfied.

"I'm deeply moved as some of them, who are not quick-learners, kept practicing after the class," Jiao said.

He has been teaching the disabled people English in a community in south Beijing's Fengtai district for several times during the Paralympics.

Jiao, 23, a teacher with a foreign languages training company, worked as a city volunteer in the district to provide language service for foreign visitors after the local disabled persons federation asked him whether he would like to provide some English training for the disabled at the Sweet Home, a community care and rehabilitation center.

He went there alone for the first time, and began to bring his volunteer friends with him.

Their classes on simple English attracted about 20 disabled students every time.

"Most of the time, we just talk with them about their daily life in Chinese. We are actually there to accompany them as many of the disabled, especially the youth, are eager to make friends," Jiao said.

He said the Paralympics gave him an opportunity to get close to the disabled, to understand them and to help them.

"My friends and I will continue to teach them after the Paralympics," Jiao said, adding that he wanted to extend the training to other communities.

Spyros Stavrianopoulos, president of the Greek Paralympic Committee, said on Sept 8 the Paralympics brings societies closer together.

"The Paralympics brings societies closer together," he said.

In the seven-year run-up to the Games in China, tens of thousands of barrier-free facilities, including ramps, blind walkway, voice-prompt systems and guidance handrail, were put in place, while parking lots, public transit stations, elevators and public toilets were renovated to improve accessibility for the disabled.

The changes took place not only at Games venues, but also at tourist attractions such as the Forbidden City.

Wen Ge, chairman of Zhang Hua Green Home, a self-help organization for the disabled in Renqiu, Hebei province, tried the barrier-free facilities during the Paralympics.

I'm happy to see that the whole society, from state leaders to the general public, began to pay more attention to the disabled," she said, adding that she believed the care for disabled people will not end after the Paralympics.

Xinhua