Twenty years have passed since we established our NGO. Thanks to the support of many people, the number of wheelchairs sent to children overseas is nearly 10,000. However, the spread of corona infection and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have become a big damage to our activities.
The number of participants in the wheelchair refurbishing activities was limited, or the meetings themselves were suspended, resulting in significant delays in the progress of whole activities, and the wheelchairs had to be shipped out unmaintained. The four countries we sent out wheelchairs without maintenance were Mongolia, Pakistan, Thailand, and Malaysia. This has somehow avoided overstock of wheelchairs. On the other hand, the conflict has increased financial problems due to container arrangements and rising transportation costs.
Despite such a terrible situation, the biggest news in 2022 was that we were able to send wheelchairs to Ukraine. The first 12 units were sent in response to an urgent request from Ukrainians living in Japan. The next 10 units were in cooperation with another NGO that sends adult wheelchairs. We immediately responded to requests from the local people who desperately needed wheelchairs for children. Now we are preparing for the third round of requests.
We will respond immediately to any requests from conflict areas, even if we do not proceed as originally planned. Since we launched this activity with determination, we will continue to do our utmost attempting to do as much as possible.
We look forward to working with you again this year.
January 1, 2023 Hirokazu Morita
Mt. Fuji from Izunokuni city.