There are 1000s of children who rarely see the sky, homebound, for the mere lack of a wheelchair. With your help, we can, for GBP26 / USD36 a child, equip 200+ poor Moldovan youth with refurbished UK wheelchairs, giving them mobility, social inclusion, and access to education. The project is win-win: for the UK healthcare sector that saves on the disposal expense, funds that can better be used for patient care, and for the Moldovan youth who are given a chance at a brighter, more joyful future.
A wheelchair is all an immobile person needs in order to see the sun and breathe fresh air. In Moldova, a poor East European country, children and adults with special needs are mostly isolated and often not able to get out of their homes. The current waiting list for children and adults who need their first wheelchair numbers over 1,800. Every year an additional 1,000 disabled people need a wheelchair.
MAD-Aid collaborates with UK hospitals to collect their wheelchairs and other medical equipment allocated for disposal. Wheelchairs with minor damage are refurbished by UK volunteer workers. MAD-Aid with its UK partners has a cost-effective way to transport the chairs to Moldova, where a network of local partners ensure the equipment is delivered to individuals and hospitals as needed. MAD-Aid aims to deliver 1200 wheelchairs in 2018; this project is for the first 200.
A wheelchair - and the mobility it brings - totally transforms not only young lives but their families as well. With mobility can come education and inclusion, hopes and dreams. Secondly, the UK hospitals can spend their large savings on patient care. Thirdly, recycling reduces the environmental impact of disposal. And finally, refurbishing the wheelchairs gives volunteer inmates in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight engaging and satisfying work.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
