Wheelchairs for Children in Sri Lanka

In developing countries such as Sri Lanka, people with disabilities are often outcast from the society and refused basic human rights. That's why, for example, there's an enormous lack of suitable wheelchairs. According to UN data, there are 20 million people worldwide with a need for but no access to a wheelchair.

Approximately 8 - 10 percent of the population of Sri Lanka is physically disabled; that's about 2 million people. Due to this lack of care, many of these people are unable to leave their houses and to participate in social activities. They live in isolation and are denied education, work and a social life.

The German medical help organisation "Johanniter Unfallhilfe", together with the British organisation "Motivation" is manufacturing wheelchairs in Columbo and delivering them, through a network of local aid organisations, to those most in need. The scope of the project allows for physically disabled children and youth to be equipped with wheelchairs. It is especially important during the first years of life to position ill and disabled children in an upright sitting position, in order to prevent secondary diseases and further deformations of the limbs and back. Read more