With the Olympics over, Paris is gearing up to host the Paralympics. More than 4,000 athletes with disabilities along with tens of thousands of spectators will attend the competitions from August 28 to September 8. As VOA correspondent Lisa Bryant reports, Olympic authorities praise Paris for the steps it has taken to make the city accessible to all. Activists for the rights of this community, however, say much more needs to be done, across France, to change infrastructure and mentality.
The day of Franck Maille, a disabled person, begins by leaving his home in the suburbs of Paris in the eastern part of the city.
The train station near his home can be easily used by people with disabilities, but catching a suburban train, known in France by the initials RER, is no easy feat.
“Having access means full autonomy to get from one place to another. When people say that Paris offers access for people with disabilities, I know that's not true,” Mr. Maille told VOA. .
He is a former Paralympic athlete who won four bronze medals in swimming at the 1988 Summer Games.
Now he is fighting for access.
French authorities have worked to make this year's summer games accessible to all. There are boats and taxis specially equipped for wheelchair users.
Buses, trams and some road crossings are designed for people who have mobility, hearing or vision problems.
Paris City Hall says the changes are part of a larger effort to make the city greener and easier to live in.
“Paris has made tremendous progress to provide access for people with disabilities. There are still things to improve, but we have seen a radical change on the ground”, says the Vice Mayor of Paris, Lamia el Aaraje, for VOA.
But only one line of the 100-year-old Paris metro system, which is not managed by the city, offers access for people with disabilities.
If an elevator doesn't work, wheelchair users are stuck, along with others who need it.
“The pressure I'm exercising is not just for myself, but for everyone,” says former pre-Olympic athlete Franck Maille.
He and other activists say that their fight is not only about changing transportation, but also about other areas of daily life.
“When we show the laws we have in France, citizens of other countries, for example in Brussels, say, 'Oh my God, you have incredible laws that no other country has. The only issue is that they are not implemented”, says the director general of the organization 'Handicap APF'.
Beyond implementing laws, according to activists, France should also implement its slogan of equality.
“People do not consider disabled people as citizens who can live independently. Society has not thought about the integration of people with disabilities, to have access to everything, like everyone else”, says the President of the organization, 'Handicap AFP', Pascale Ribes.
Activist Franck Maille believes that France is developing, but there is still a lot of work to do.
