Africa
Wheels for the World
Each year Jill Jenkinson goes to Africa and other countries to help with the Wheels for the World programme.
Wheels for the World is the overseas arm of Through the Roof. We restore and distribute refurbished wheelchairs and other mobility aids which are given to hundreds of people in Africa and eastern Europe – allowing them a freedom of movement they could only dream about and demonstrating the love of God in a practical way.
Imagine you have lived in one room for many years, unable to go outside. Think of a husband pushing his wife down a rutted road in a wheelbarrow. Picture a man who needs to walk on hands and feet with flip-flops on his hands to protect them. Consider a 10 year old boy who has never run or stood unaided, dependent on his parents to carry him everywhere. What these people have in common with millions of others world-wide is their need of a wheelchair and their lack of hope or of ability to purchase one.
Wheels for the World takes wheelchairs no longer required by the NHS to a UK prison workshop for restoration to almost-new condition. Prisoners find great satisfaction in this work which helps restore their self worth and dignity. They recognise that immobile disabled people are, in a sense, prisoners too. One prisoner in Parkhurst prison said “It’s great working on something for people who are worse off than I am. For the first time in seven years I’m starting to feel good about myself.” We have established good sources for wheelchairs, but we always have a shortage of children’s manual wheelchairs.
The hub of operations is a farm near Salisbury where chairs are received from prisons and containers of wheelchairs are dispatched to developing countries to meet up with distribution teams.
More information on the Wheels for the World website.
Africa | China | Colombia | Iceland | India | Jamaica | Romania | Vietnam