A Bumpy Road to Rio? with Nikki Fox Our World

Rio De Janeiro, a warm, vibrant and complex city.

Next year it will host the Paralympic Games.

I'm Nikki Fox, and I'm definitely not a Paralympian.

I've been finding out how difficult it is to live here

They don't think about us, we are not people.

And what if you've got what it takes to be a Paralympian?

How much support is available, and will the Games raise

aspirations, not only for future Paralympic stars, but

This might take more than one generation.

It's the best place in the world for me.

You learn to love this city very easily.

He is our tour guide, and our driver on this trip.

But you know, the problem in Rio is we have not

It is necessary because the transportation here is

Accessibility is very, very hard for us.

I think it's not because they don't want to do it,

Sometimes I think they just don't care about.

Life can be hard for people like Carlos.

Of the millions of disabled people of working age in

Brazil, just 2% are in employment, and as few as 7% have completed any

Carlos spent the week with me, dropping me off in his accessible

taxi, to meet people with a variety of disabilities, so that I can find

How do the people Brazil view disability, and how do the disabled

These dancers make up Rio's only disabled samba troupe.

Every year they perform at the carnival.

But it was not until 2013 that they were allowed to

I have never seen anything quite like this,

The group was founded by Paul Davies, who moved to Rio

Today they are rehearsing for the Paralympic one year to go

celebrations, and they don't let just anyone kiss that flag.

I will have to let Viviane, I look like Mr Bean when I do the samba.

Her fans launched a campaign on social media to get the height

It is this one in a million that will have that sort of respect.

You are talking about 40 million people in Brazil

with some form of disability, where others, people are often hidden.

Society doesn't like it, the families don't want to take

their kids out, because society will point, and "oh,

the freakshow," and that still exists here, unfortunately.

At samba school, these dancers feel free.

Having a disability doesn't stop them from doing what they love.

But getting around their city can be an entirely different experience.

Although she is confident on the dancefloor, Elizabeth is scared

I am afraid to fall down, to break my wheelchair.

It is very difficult, I am afraid to come here.

The streets outside her home, with their cracked pavements

and steep curves, make independence almost impossible.

What impact has not being able to get around the city had

Sometimes I want to cry because I cannot go to the places.

It is not easy for other people like me,

We are not people, and I am ashamed about this.

from the Maracana, the main stadium for the Paralympics next year.

Before we left for the day, she wanted to take me for a coffee.

She may have problems getting around, but what her city lacks

in accessibility, people make up for with their willingness to help.

Once we got settled, I wanted to find out what life has been like for

her in Rio, after she broke her back in a car crash over 40 years ago.

The first time I went to the downtown with my wheelchair,

People said oh,my dear, poor girl, so beautiful, in your wheelchair.

My mother was like a volcano, go to hell, you can't say that to

Because for the mothers I think it is more difficult.

So have perceptions towards disabled people in Brazil moved on?

Things start to change, but is not fast.

When you come here, you think everything is very hard,

The following day we stopped for lunch with Carlos.

And by chance, in the restaurant, we met a family who were having

day trying to give the best possible care they can to

Carlos, can you ask them how they find other people's

attitudes towards them, what other people are like with them?

I've already met quite a few people who have told me about their

struggles living in Rio with a disability, how they are perceived,

So I thought it was about time that I give the streets of Rio a go,

So this is the equivalent of the city in London.

If you are disabled, and you work in law or as an accountant,

or you are just a professional, you are going to be here.

You are going to be working here, and you might be faced with these

We've been told that, even when the light is green, you have to still

I have put myself on full speed, on turbo power,

There is also no sound, so if you are visually impaired

and you can't see that little green man, then you've got no chance.

You could be forgiven for not wanting to drive.

So, is public transport a realistic option for the thousands

Carlos, if I had to catch a bus or the

Just come with me, let's try to take, one day, me and you.

To take the bus, it is a big mission.

It is a big mission, how often do you catch the bus?

Not very often, but I know well it is very difficult.

When you don't have a car in Brazil, is very hard to buy a car.

I always stop, I don't know if he stop here.

Sometimes the driver don't see us, because we are...

And then you have to, "hey, excuse me."

And they only have one space per wheelchair inside the bus?

I don't think I'm going to be able to get up, you know.

You wouldn't be able to get in there anyway, would you?

I could be your fourth wife, but we wouldn't be able to travel

That is a tick for the city that will next year

There is construction work everywhere you look.

Much of that work is here, in the west of Rio, at the Olympic Park.

The total cost of the Games comes in at $5.5 billion,

which includes improving transport links and infrastructure

like venues, accommodation and this impressive site.

But will this injection of cash benefit the lives

of disabled people living in Rio like it has for other host cities

If you come here and compare it from 2009 when we won the bid to Rio

It will be much better, more accessible.

Do you think the new legislation that has come in will improve Rio?

There has been legislation in the country for a long time,

I think everything that is being built these days, even the public

works or private buildings, there is the issue of accessibility.

But we need to do more, otherwise it will take forever.

We need to go back and look at the streets, when you cannot cross on

It will take more than one generation.

Of course the Paralympics are one way

of pushing the city forward in terms of access and attitude, but this is

a country in recession and hosting such a big event comes at a price.

There is a lot of money being pumped into this, as there is with any

Olympic Games, and I'm sure it will be ready, they have got a year...

Do you know the price of the Olympic Stadium in London?

It costs more than all this Olympic Park.

If it was in Brazil, I would be in jail.

It is unrealistic to think Rio's access problems will dramatically

You can only imagine what it is like if you are disabled

Back in 2012, success did appear to happen overnight

He reached the Junction of the band on the home straight.

It is Pistorius in front by a long way!

And Oliveira comes through to take it!

He has taken gold in the 200 metres and that is the biggest shock

Brazil is hugely successful at Paralympic sport.

At London 2012, they outshone their Olympic team, and are expected

How easy is it for future Paralympic stars to fulfil their potential?

This is Washington Junior, he has recorded some of the fastest

But he often can't afford to get to training.

Washington lives in the City of God favela.

Despite being a hopeful for Rio 2016, his funding has been delayed

and he doesn't know when he will next get the money he needs.

It is not an easy road for many athletes.

This is goalball, a sport for players with visual impairments.

Many of the players at this club are tipped for great

Just across the city is the club's headquarters, a tiny

Here, they are making Braille menus to sell to local restaurants.

They have to do this to keep the club going.

It is frustrating that we see all the focus

A lot is being invested on the ones who made the international team,

But for the clubs and the professionals at work

in the clubs, it is really hard to keep on working.

We don't have a sport system that is efficient enough to identify people

at the grassroots and take them to that level.

We hope with the Games next year we will have a system that works.

Do you think you have a long way to go?

We still have a long way to go in that system.

In competitive sport we are doing a very good job.

This year, almost $22 million was ploughed into Paralympic sport

This is Wilians, known as the Gentle Fighter, a judo

2012, and he is tipped to do very well next year.

It is sport that has pulled he and his family out of poverty.

He used to live in one of the largest urban slums in Brazil.

He now lives on the outskirts in a safer part of town.

The disabled people I have met on this trip are tough.

Many have to work doubly hard to improve their lives

They know their country has many problems and that attitudes towards

We can do everything, but you have to try, you have to want this.

Life won't change if you don't move, you have to move, always.

I think first of all the societal change that incredible athletes

You can have all the laws you want but

if you only throw laws at people, some people can be a bit offended

by new laws, so you have to explain why it is happening, why everyone

A lot of people we have spoken to have said they are

so glad that the Paralympics are coming to Rio because it will be

It makes the government and people who need to to change

things that need improving, it makes them think about it,

because there will be thousands and thousands coming to the city.

They will all be staying in hotels and catching cabs and having to

get from A to B, so it forces them to think, are we equipped?

I think the people of Rio are excited, and the disabled

Do I think that Paralympics will change things overnight?

I think it will take a very long time.