The Tanzania Wheelchair Project

THE TANZANIA WHEELCHAIR PROJECT:

Wheels for people.  Wheels for wildlife.

Imagine waking up in the morning knowing that because of you, people are headed to work with smiles on their faces.  Because of you, they can help support their families and ensure an education for their children.  Because of you, the dreams they have but never thought possible to achieve are within their reach.  With your help, we can provide wheelchairs to a disabled persons in Tanzania and make those dreams come true.

As in many countries, living with a physical disability in Tanzania is particularly difficult for the rural poor.  The resources and infrastructure that would help them become productive, happy members of their community are often absent. In some cases, persons with disabilities are met with hostility from other village members and even from their own families.

Peace for Conservation, Ltd, a Tanzanian conservation and social nongovernment organization, is working to provide a structured support program for disabled individuals in the Busega District adjoining Serengeti National Park.  The Serengeti is one of the premier wildlife conservation areas in the world.  Peace for Conservation staff will work in partnership with Environmental Education and Conservation Global (EECG), a conservation and education nongovernment organization in the United States.  Peace for Conservation will handle the project implementation in Tanzania.  EECG will help with overall project management and handle fundraising efforts for the project.

Each wheelchair provided by a local Tanzania manufacter will cost $215.  The wheelchairs will be of the tricycle, hand driven type more suitable for the rual environment where they will be used than the traditional model.  Using a local manufacter will also facilitate any needed repairs in the future and will ensure that the wheelchairs are adapted to individual's specific needs.  

Our goal is to provide 100 wheelchairs over the next five years.

The wheelchair Project has three main features:

Provision of the wheelchairs and support for their use.
Training for wheelchair recipients that will enable them to become employed and help support their families, many for the first time.
Training for the wheelchair recipients that will encourage them to become Ambassadors for Wildlife with their families and fellow villagers. These ambassadors will become a cadre of dedicated individuals that will help us build support for our conservation efforts in the Serengeti ecosystem.

PLEASE JOIN US AND HELP CHANGE A LIFE FOREVER

For more information, contact Ed McCrea at [email redacted].  1 [phone redacted]