Differently abled Bzeans get new wheels

While some members of the Rotary Club were trying to cope with bad luck, others were giving differently-abled Belizeans a sense of independence. News Five’s Kendra Griffith has more.

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
Statistics on the number of wheelchair-bound persons in Belize are hard to come by, but estimates are that the mobility of hundreds are impeded by a lack of resources. Today that demand was at least partially met, courtesy of the Wheelchair Foundation and the students of CalPoly San Luis Obispo in California.

Scott West, CalPoly San Luis Obispo
?All graduating students have to complete a senior project. We had to pick one that we can directly help the lives of people. We saw there is a need; the humanity index showed that Belizean people could use help. And also the government dismantled the disabilities services, so we wanted to help people who most needed.?

Through an auction, the students raised sixty-six thousand dollars to purchase six hundred new wheels … a donation couldn?t have come soon enough.

Francis Woods, Coordinator, Wheelchair Delivery
?Belize has already received about five hundred and sixty wheelchairs from the Wheelchair Foundation and Rotary Club in California. There was the need for it very unfortunately. There was the need for it. We?ve been out for the last six months and this comes just right now. You can see the folks around here that have gotten it, some of them have been waiting for six months for a wheelchair.?

Those on the waiting list included Emilio Castillo and Gilbert Domingo who desperately needed to replace their broken chairs.

Emilio Castillo, Received Wheelchair
?The chair deh pan ih last and I have to get injection everyday. I mi di wonder about tomorrow again fi get injection cause today I gone inna it today, but dah trouble fi get to it. But now I get this one and I feel good now. I feel happy.?

Gilbert Domingo, Received Wheelchair
?Right now in that condition it doesn?t work, so I came for this. I borrowed one from my landlady and she lent me it to come and get this one. I?m grateful for everybody because I can move around, because staying home I don?t get nowhere because I?m not rich. My family is not rich, so I gotta move around and try and get my own too.?

According to Rotarian Francis Woods, reasons for the high demand for the chairs are varied.

Francis Woods
?What we have seen doing deliveries is that we have a lot of people, amputees, that have lost their feet due to diabetes. We are seeing a lot of kids that are born deformed. We?ve seen a couple accident victims. This morning we delivered one to a gunshot victim that is now paralysed because of gunshot wounds.?

Whatever the cause for the disability, Woods encourages anyone who needs to improve their mobility to call and reserve their chair.

Francis Woods
?We?d like to encourage anybody that needs a wheelchair or if you have a family member that you know needs one, call 222-4369. And we?ll see how we can coordinate to get that wheelchair to the person that needs it the most.?

Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.

The new wheelchairs are valued at approximately four hundred and fifty dollars each. The equipment is being distributed jointly by the Rotary Club and CARE Belize. For more information on the program, please contact Mimi or Tirsa at 222-4369.