This morning, members of the Park City Neighborhood Homework Club, a group of about 30 families with children in Kindergarten through fifth grade, will lace up their shoes for the 5k at the Salt Lake City Marathon in honor of Chris Waddell, a Park City-based paralympian in downhill ski racing and track and field.
For each kilometer $5 will go to Waddell’s plan to summit 19,340-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro on a four-wheeled hand cycle – a feat that no parathlete has achieved before. The idea is to be at the peak next March, 20 years and 83 days since a ski accident left his legs paralyzed. It will mark the exact midpoint in his life between being able to walk, and being bound to a wheelchair. Waddell is calling the journey “One Revolution.” He said the climb, which will be documented by still and video photographers, is about starting a conversation – one that changes the way the world sees, or rather, doesn’t see, the disabled community.
“From the time we’re little, we’re taught to not stare at people that look different,” Waddell observed. “And if you don’t stare it means that essentially those people don’t exist. You just block them out of your mind There are 21 million profoundly disabled people in this country, which is almost one in 10. Most of us have more than 10 friends and most of us are hard pressed to think of that one person that represents that demographic.”
The Homework Club, a four-year-old organization comprised of children, teachers and parents meets Wednesdays. Kids play and do homework and the adults discuss school issues and plan annual civic projects. In previous years, the Homework Club raised funds for the Central Asia Institute’s Pennies for Peace program, that support educational programs in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Namaste Direct, a micro-loan program in Guatemala that helps women become first-time loan borrowers.
This year, an article in The Salt Lake Tribune inspired Kristen Robinson, the organization’s founder and self-described “chief catalyst,” to support Waddell. “I thought this would be a perfect project for our children – to expose them to this world that they haven’t seen before,” she said.
Waddell skied with several of the children and their parents this season, and has made a bigger impression than Robinson anticipated. In addition to the run, the experience of meeting Waddell and understanding his mission, inspired an invitation-only dinner that will be held at the Jeremy Ranch Country Club on April 27. Robinson says the group plans to raise $3,000.
At last Wednesday’s meeting at the Robinsons’, the Homework Club didn’t actually do homework, but held a show and tell: The children showed Waddell their ribbons and trophies from karate, science competitions and other sports and in turn, Waddell showed them his – a gold medal from the Nagano Paralympics, a silver from the Sidney Paralympics.
For his part, the Homework Club is Waddell’s chance to begin his conversation early, with young persons who, he finds, have open minds, ready to receive his message. He calls his new youth program “Nametags,” a concept he says begins in school, where people begin to define who they are, and how they see others. While some children will get pegged as “jock,” “science wiz” or “dancer,” Waddell seems, often by default, to be defined by his wheelchair until of course, they see him ski.
“What we want to do is talk to kids, because kids ask any questions they want – they’re not bound by political correctness,” he said. “(The idea is) what is the nametag and can we get beyond the nametag part of it and see the multifaceted individual?”
After sharing their accomplishments with Waddell, the younger members of the Homework Club gathered cross-legged on the floor of the living room while their parents hugged the perimeter to watch a DVD of Waddell competing and then listen to him explain his plans for Kilimanjaro. He told them how he feels about being disabled, and told them his story, how, in 1988, he fell on a warm-up run with friends during Christmas break, and how he broke his vertebrae when he hit the ground.
Then he welcomed questions from his attentive audience. The crowd was quiet, but slowly became confident: “Will you be camping on the mountain?” “When you meet people and sometimes they look at you weird, does it fly past you or really insult you?” “What bindings did you have when you fell?” “How fast were you going?” “How do you get on a chairlift?” they asked.
Others made statements.
“I don’t have a question, I have a comment,” apologized Andrew Robinson, 9, a swimmer and karate student who attends Jeremy Ranch Elementary School.
Waddell nodded.
“I really don’t think people should judge people by their wheelchair. I really think they should judge people by what they can do, like, I mean, you may be in a wheelchair, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bike ride, race or you can swim, right?” Robinson asked.
“Yes,” Waddell responded.
“So, I don’t think people should be judged by their wheelchair, or by their looks, but what they should do,” concluded Robinson.
“And there’s a lot of that, by what you can do, and what you have to give to other people,” Waddell replied. “That’s a great statement. That’s great. Well done.”
The revolution, it seemed, had already begun.
For sponsor information for “One Revolution,” contact Missy Greis by e-mailing [email protected] . To donate, visit the Web site at one-revolution.com.