At the end of January 2025, the ship loaded with wheelchairs for Pakistan left the port of Yokohama. It is expected to arrive in Karachi in early March. The wheelchairs will be deliverd after a 1,300 km land transportation from Karachi to the destination, Lahore.

  The shipment to Pakistan was made possible by a request from the NPO Sakura Wheelchair Project (headed by Mr. Hiroyuki Shinoda), which has been sending electric wheelchairs to Pakistan, for the provision of wheelchairs for children. In addition to the Project’s electric wheelchairs and adult wheelchairs, we sent 82 children’s wheelchairs and rehabilitation equipment.

  The Project has been providing technical guidance to our partner, Milestone Society for the special persons, on the manufacture and repair of various types of wheelchairs. The society is promoting the training of skilled workers and supporting their self-reliance in Pakistan, with great success.

  All the wheelchairs provided by our NGO to the Project are unequipped. They will be maintained at the site as part of technical training and will be delivered to children after functional testing.

  We look forward to hearing from the local partner that the finished wheelchairs have been provided to children in Pakistan.

February 21, 2025      Hirokazu Morita

== Loading ==
(How to see the photos)Click on the photos to enlarge them.

  The container loading of wheelchairs took place in Bando City prior to the vessel’s departure at the end of January. The total number of wheelchairs shipped to the country is now 343.

  On February 11, 2025, we had a meeting with 13 members from MFS Investment Management K.K. The temperature was rather low, but the sun was shining and we were able to work without feeling too cold.

  To read more,,,

  On February 9, 2025, we had a meeting with over 60 participants, the largest attendance in the last 5 years. There were Sagami Women’s University group, Ethiopian group, Vietnamese group, Tama Technical High School group, Nepalese group, general volunteers, and staff; 61 in total.

  To read more,,,

  On January 15, 2025, we went to Hidaka Special School in Hidaka City, Saiatama Prefecture, to receive 21 wheelchairs and other equipment. The weather was fine and we were able to load the truck in a short time and trasported them to our warehouse in Haijima.

  When we arrived, the teacher and PTA board members were waiting for us with the wheelchairs lined up in the school yard. The wheelchairs were stored in the storage room behind the gymnasium and they were in good condition.

  There were a total of 21 units: 12 wheelchairs, 2 buggy-types, 2 sitting-aids, 4 walkers, and 1 car seat. Among them were two unusual ones:wheelchairs for sports use. We would like to find an overseas partner that can make use of these sports wheelchairs and deliver them.

  Thankyou, Hidaka Special School.

January 19, 2025      Secretariat

== Hidaka Special School ==
(How to see the photos)Click on the photos to enlarge them.

  The school was easy to find with information boards placed on the main road nearby. Buses used to transport children and students lined the large grounds.

(Left) The teacher and PTA board members were waiting for us with wheelchairs.
(Right) All the units were loaded onto the truck in a short time.

We have received two wheelchairs for sports use. We will look for an overseas partner who can utilize them.

  On January 12, 2025, we had the first meeting of the year with 54 participants: Sagami Women’s University group, Vietnamese group, Tama Technical High School group, Ethiopian group, Ukrainian group, general volunteers, and staff.

  To read more,,,

  In the early morning of December 31, the container ship loaded with 15 wheelchairs from our NGO and many relief supplies from all over Japan left the port of Tokyo, and is expected to reach the port of Gdynia, Poland, around February 15, 2025.

  This container was arranged by the Embassy of Ukraine. These relief supplies are once delivered to Future for Ukraine (FFU), a medical aid organization in Kiev, which was founded by Ukrainians who fled to Poland after the Russian invasion. The relief supplies include wheelchairs from our NGO.

  From there, the wheelchairs will be delivered to the final destination, Misto Dobra (“City of Goodness” in English), which is based in Chernivtsi, a city in western Ukraine.

  We did maintenance work on the 15 wheelchairs at an extra work meeting on October 6, 2024. Then, on October 16, we delivered them in a wooden box to a warehouse in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, where relief supplies for Ukraine are to be collected.

  Although we were able to bring the 15 units safely into the warehouse, we had to wait until the container was full of relief supplies. Finally, on December 23, two months after our wheelchairs were brought in the warehouse, the container was loaded.

  With this process, we were able to make this shipment. It will take two months to reach Poland. Furthermore, the time required from Poland to Kiew and then to Chernivtsi, the final destination, is unpredictable. We can only hope that the wheelchairs will reach the children as soon as possible.

  This brings the total number of wheelchairs and other equipment sent to Ukraine to 128. Please click here to see the graph of donation results.

December 31, 2024      Secretariat

== Loading ==
  Prior to the departure from the Port of Tokyo, loading was done on December 23 at a warehouse where Ukrainian relief supplies are collected in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture.

(How to see the photos)Click on the photos to enlarge them.

(Left) The warehouse containing relief supplies for Ukraine. The supplies are carried out from the shutter on the far right.
(Right) The truck with a 40-foot container arrived at the warehouse on time.

(Left) The warehouse was full of relief supplies sent from all over Japan.
(Right) Supplies were taken out of the warehouse and loaded into the container one by one.

In order to load as many supplies as possible, the goods are pre-packed to a size that matches the dimensions of the container. Their height is just about the height of the container.

(Left) Now it’s the turn of our box of wheelchairs.
(Right) Ms. Lesha is holding a “two-seater baby carriage,” which Valeriya, who attended our October meeting, requested us to send to Ukraine if we had a two-seater baby carriage. We packed it additionally and had it loaded into this container.

The wheelchair box was loaded last. It fit tightly into the opening of the container.

There was still some room above the wheelchair box. Other supplies were pushed in there as well, and it was completed with a loading rate that seemed to be 99%.

  On December 26, 2024, we went to Koshigaya Special School in Saitama prefecture to receive ten wheelchairs, including buggy-types and sitting-aids.

  This is the first time after the school provided 37 wheelchairs in 2019 and 2 in 2021. It seems that the Corona disaster has affected the wheelchair offerings for some time.

  The wheelchairs were stored in a warehouse next to the school’s large playground. The truck carrying the wheelchairs was a 4-ton truck, so it could not enter the narrow road in front of the warehouse. So the school teacher, the PTA board member, and our staff moved the wheelchairs to a larger area and waited for the truck to arrive.

  The truck arrived late due to road congestion, probably because of the end of the year, but once it arrived, loading was completed in ten minutes. Ms. Hirai, the PTA board member, said that in the future, they will try to increase the number of wheelchairs in cooperation with nearby special schools.

  We told Mr. Kumano, the teacher, and Ms. Hirai, who helped us, that these wheelchairs will be delivered to Nepal, and everyone saw the truck off. Thank you for your help!

December 28, 2024      Secretariat

〇Loading wheelchairs into the truck.
(How to see the photos)Click on the photos to enlarge them.

(Left) Mr. Kumano (right male) and Ms. Hirai (left female), the PTA board member, in front of the wheelchairs to be picked up.
(Right) The truck has arrived. Friends of the staff who live nearby came to help.

We saw off the trucks with the school staff who were willing to load them.

  ～ With people from Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. and
       Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, Inc. ～

  It was a cold winter work day. The morning was clear, but a light rain began to fall before noon, forcing us to stop our work. However, thanks to the hard work of all the participants, we were able to carry out the activities as scheduled.

  To read more,,,