Wheelchairs For Southern Nepal

One of the worldwide initiatives of Latter-Day Saint Charities is to provide wheelchairs to disabled people around the world. On May 20th through May 23rd we went to the cities of Bharatpur and Butwal located in south central Nepal. This was one of the most heart-warming things that we have done!

This is Bikas. This is his second LDSC wheelchair. This one is a tricycle version. You can make it move by pushing and pulling on the steering wheel. Bikas has actually had this chair for 4 years. It is in mint condition. He uses it each day to travel 4.0 miles each way to and from the hospital where his is employed as a computer technician.

This man was injured in a motorcycle accident and is now a paraplegic. He is still recovering and this is his first wheelchair. He will probably get 2 to 5 years out of it.

This is Rebika. She is shown here with her husband, daughter and son. She is suffering from kidney failure. They have had to relocate from their village to the city of Bharatpur as she needs dialysis twice a week. Her husband is a farmer. He is working as a construction laborer in the city. He makes 500 Nepali Rupees per day (about $5).  We also gave them some crutches so she could get into the toilet.

A view of some of the people gathered for the distribution.

This guy was my favorite recipient. He is Tikka. Tikka is a banana farmer and has been disabled for many years. He has a GREAT attitude. He earns a living from his banana farm and also has a copy/lamination business. He a member of several local committees and was getting ready to travel to eastern Nepal to speak at a program about people with disabilities. He is 38 years old. I asked him if he was married. He said that it was hard for a disabled person to find somebody to marry them. He said that he had married an "older" woman 2 years ago. His wife is 24 years old, well past the age of marriage in rural Nepal.

This 14-year-old blind girl was given a walking cane to help her become more mobile.

The above two pictures are of Sunil. Sunil is 28 years old. The first picture shows him crawling into the conference center in Butwal, where the distribution was held. The second picture shows him in his new tricycle wheelchair. About an hour after the program ended we were driving down the street in Butwal. This was about a mile from the distribution site. Sunil was rapidly wheeling down the street with a BIG smile on his face.