The Seattle Times has a profile of Tiana Tozer who "works in Iraq helping disabled people find dignity, empowerment and maybe wheelchair basketball." Here's the intro to the story:
Tiana Tozer (pictured) lay in intensive care, begging a nurse to unplug her from life support. A drunken driver had taken away her ability to walk and her Peace Corps dream, and she was in agonizing pain.
But a physical therapist entered her hospital room and tried to recruit the tall, lanky blonde for a wheelchair-basketball team.
A year later, the thwack-thwack-thwack of a bouncing basketball ball would be the sound of rebirth for Tozer.
That was 20 years ago.
Tozer, now 40, is hoping the same familiar sound could bring dignity, self-respect and empowerment to disabled people in Iraq.
Tozer, the winner of gold and bronze medals in wheelchair basketball in the Paralympics, is well-known throughout the Northwest as a coach and advocate for teaching wheelchair basketball to disabled students. But in Iraq, where she works for Portland-based Mercy Corps, she is revered for her work helping the disabled fight for recognition, whether it's pushing for a law to set up a ministry for the disabled or starting a youth wheelchair-basketball team.
Tozer has a difficult task ahead of her. She not only has to help disabled Iraqis create a new life, but she also has to dispel the notion that they are less than able-bodied individuals.
While there is no confirmed number of disabled people in Iraq, the number is generally considered between 3 million to 5 million people, said David Holdridge, the Mideast regional director for Mercy Corps.
The high number is caused by a number of factors, including casualties from the Gulf War, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, atrocities by Saddam Hussein's regime, birth defects, poor health care and lack of any regulations or control on the use of dangerous chemicals, Holdridge said.
"The issue is not the lack of accessibility," Tozer said. "It's the attitude and the general lack of knowledge."
The Seattle Times has a profile of Tiana Tozer who "works in Iraq helping disabled people find dignity, empowerment and maybe wheelchair basketball." Here's the intro to the story: