Paralympic celebrations in the Pacific

Media Release

August 31

Paralympic celebrations in the Pacific

As the Pacific Islands Forum leaders went off to Autitaki, the British Government hosted a special breakfast on Rarotonga today to celebrate the Paralympic Games.

Watched by a large crowd, the British Parliamentary Undersecretary for the Environment, Richard Benyon said that "he would be taking his wife and children to the Paralympics when he returned to London. He said the games are showing, yet again, that harnessing the skills and potential of every part of society benefits us all. "

The breakfast which included Rarotongan dancers and drummers was held beside a lush tropical lagoon. The stars of the morning were Auckland mixed ability dancers Adrian Smith and Dan King from the Touch Compass dance troupe. They wowed the crowd as they preformed their moves on a tiny island in the Te Vara Nui complex.

The event also included films on disabled dancers in the United Kingdom and some of the heroes of paralympic sport in the Pacific including Papua New Guinea's silver medallist at the Beijing Olympics, Joseph Kampoan.

Richard Benyon went on to say, "in London, some were saying thanks for the Olympics they were just the warm up for the Paralympics. This will be the biggest ever Paralympic Games, the second biggest sporting event in the world and it's returning to the country where it first began."

The British High Commissioner, Mrs Vicki Treadell, who acted as the Master of Ceremonies, told the crowd "this was a celebration of inclusion"

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