On November 12, 2023, the container ship loaded with 90 wheelchairs departed Tokyo Port for Ethiopia. Ethiopia does not have access to the sea, so unloading takes place at the Port of Djibouti, a neighboring country. From Djibouti to Addis Ababa is by truck. The container is scheduled to arrive at Djibouti on December 21, and it will take two to four more weeks to get to Addis Ababa.
For this Ethiopia project, we have received support from Tokyo Akishima Chuo Rotary Club. We had 15 members from the Rotary Club coming to join in our activity on September 10. We have also received a large donation that we hope will be used for the Ethiopia project.
In addition, a presentation ceremony is going to be held in Ethiopia in February, 2024. If the ceremony is held, several members of the Rotary Club will participate in the local presentation ceremony. They say they’d like to meet the children in Ethiopia who are actually using the wheelchairs they cleaned and refurbished.
We have not had a presentation ceremony in Ethiopia since July 2018. Although it is a distant country in Africa, we are happy to be able to send the wheelchairs and to attend the presentation ceremony as well.
This shipment of 90 units to Ethiopia brings the total number of units donated to the country to 680. Please refer to the graph here for donation results.
November 16, 2023 Secretariat
Loading in Hamura City prior to the departure.
(How to see the photos) Click on the photos to enlarge them and see them consecutively.
Forklift loading pallets with packed wheelchairs into the container.
(Left) The wheelchair is carried in by hand from the pallet.
(Right) A wooden lid has been installed to prevent the wheelchair from falling when the door is opened. The work is done by raising the forks high.
(Left)Members of Tokyo Akishima Chuo Rotary Club helped load wheelchairs onto pallets.
(Right) All the wheelchairs were loaded. The container was about 75% full. Whenever we load wheelchairs, we are always worried that they might overflow. There was plenty of room this time.
The door closed, the container departed for the Port of Tokyo.