This month Just Wheels. a small Scottish charity, is giving out 25 wheelchairs to people with physical disabilities in Tabora in Western Tanzania. All those who are receiving the wheelchairs are physically disabled and do not currently have a wheelchair at all or one that is adequate for their needs. Their lives are being transformed.
This has come about due to a partnership with a number of organisations in Tabora who have helped to identify individuals in need. This includes Chawata, the government disability organization and the Tabora Leadue for Children. With this collaboration, staff have identified the first 25 recipients of wheelchairs, some of whom are in the photo below.
Giving an individual a wheelchair is life changing. But Just Wheels board realized the needed to help to create a sustainable solution. So Just wheels is now looking at how to support a wheelchair and physiotherapy service in Tabora. This work will take place next year.
Husnah
Husnah received a wheelchair this month. She, and her grandmother, are thrilled. She is around 10 years old – her grandmother was not sure of her age – and has has various health issues including polio as a child rendering her unable to walk. Like so many disabled girls, she has never been to school.
She loves her wheelchair as it means she does not have to be carried by her grandmother and her friends can push her in her wheelchair. She has started school 2 weeks as a result of getting her wheelchair and her aim is to learn to read so she can read the manual for her wheelchair!