Support 100 disabled youth with Assistive devices.

A NOTE FROM GLOBALGIVING:

This is the second in a series of snapshots about project leader Fredrick Ouko and his organization Kenya Disabled Action Network (KEDAN).

Thank you for your continued support of Fredrick and his tireless dedication to rehabilitating 100 disabled youth from underprivileged families through the provision of mobility aids and assistive devices. We ask you to contribute again today! Feel free to tell your friends about Fredrick and his incredible work!

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Give a Man a Wheelchair and He Will Eat for a Lifetime

Fredrick Ouko Alucheli is the Executive Director of Kenya Disabled Action Network (KEDAN). Only 26-years-old, Fredrick has already championed various initiatives in Kenya and abroad that bring awareness to and improve the lives of youth with disabilities.

He cites his family as his primary source of motivation; U.S. President Barack Obama, a close second. “Initially, my father influenced me the most as he is the one who sacrificed a lot to educate me despite being a disabled child in the family,” says Fredrick. “Lately, the U.S. president Barack Obama inspires me a great deal from how he rose from a community mobilizer to become the 44th President of United States of America. Considering all the challenges he has faced in life and he is a true testimony to the disabled community that indeed ‘YES WE CAN’ one day!”

With funds raised through GlobalGiving, Fredrick and his team at KEDAN have been able to purchase aluminum elbow crutches, wheelchairs, and white canes for the blind. They plan to continue buying other assistive devices as the demand for them is particularly high among their beneficiaries. “A lot of people … continuously come to our offices looking for such assistance,” says Fredrick.

Fredrick’s accomplishments are impressive, and he hopes to inspire others to follow their dreams as well. He talks about one particular young person who had a similar drive to excel, but didn’t own a wheelchair to help him move around. “With a donation, we were able to afford him a wheelchair that came in handy,” says Fredrick. “He could now do everything for himself as opposed to relying on people’s assistance every time he wanted to move from one point to another.”

Fredrick believes that providing assistive tools is the gateway to achieving independent living. He draws a comparison to the famous Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Speaking of the ambitious young man who received the wheelchair donation, Fredrick says, “We actually gave him a fishing line and he is happy to get fish for himself!”