A Proper Wheelchair Is Life! The goal of this campaign is to provide life giving mobility to one person at a time.

Due to my network with people with spinal cord injury in low resource countries such as Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and more, I am constantly encountering individuals with disabilities who desperately need a proper wheelchair. Each situation is different, but the common theme is a combination of a lack of funds and ability to acquire a proper wheelchair.

The more money we are able to raise, the more people we can help. It typically takes, on average, about $180-$250 to acquire and deliver a manual wheelchair. Sometimes it is a more, sometimes it is less.  Costs also depend greatly on the physical location of the individual and their proximity to local resources. Power wheelchairs cost in the $500-$700 range.

As we encounter specific people in need of a wheelchair, they are interviewed, qualified and put on our wheelchair waiting list. When sufficient funds are raised, we locate, acquire, and deliver a suitable wheelchair (given the limitations of locally obtainable wheelchairs and delivery methods).

Each person who receives a proper wheelchair is literally a life saved. The Starfish Story says it all.

"One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed boy picking up and gently throwing things into the ocean.

Approaching the boy he asked, “Young man, what are you doing?”

“Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die,” the boy replied.

The man laughed to himself and said, “Do you realize there are miles of miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make any difference.”

After listening politely, the boy bent down to pick up another starfish and threw it into the surf. Then, he smiled at the man and said, “I made a difference to that one.”

I would rather be the boy than the man and I hope you do too!

-Erik Kondo

For more details, please view my website campaign page.