The ship loading 90 wheelchairs left Tokyo port on February 24, 2020, and reached Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, on May 4. It was on August 25 that the wheelchairs were unloaded from the container, though. In Paraguay, too, wheelchair delivering work had been restricted due to the corona crisis.

  A year has passed since the unloading and wheelchairs have been delivered to disabled children. As a token of their gratitude, National Secretary for the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SENADIS) and the Paraguayan ambassador to Japan have sent us testimonials with photos of children on their wheelchair.

  It’s all thanks to the support of Tokyo Akishima Rotary Club, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. and Ocean Network Express Co. Ltd., (ONE), and the Paraguay embassy in Japan that we are able to keep delivering wheelchairs to such a far-off country as Paraguay. I feel really thankful for this great support.

September 12, 2021          Hirokazu    Morita

Testimonial from SENADIS                       From the Paraguayan ambassador
　
　　　　　(Click them to enlarge and see the Japanese version.)

Photos of children on their wheelchair.
(Click them to enlarge.)

The wheelchairs sent to Paraguay in 2020 are from schools and individuals below.
– Chiba Prefectural Sakuragaoka Special School
– Ryokuseikai Seiikuen Commuting Center
– Tokyo Metropolitan Shikamoto Gakuen
– Tokyo Metropolitan Tamasakuranooka Gakuen
– Yokoham Municipal Kamisugeta Special School
– Other individuals

Thank you again for your support.

  The August issue of EUROBIZ Japan runs an article of our NGO, how it started and what kind of activities we do.

  EUROBIZ Japan is the official monthly magazine of the European Business Council in Japan(EBC). It is the largest distribution reach of any English-language business magazine in Japan, with an estimated readership of 70, 000.

  We had got a request from a reporter for EUROBIZ Japan to introduce our NGO in the magazine. Mr. Morita, our president, thought it’s good to get people in various countries to know about our NGO, as well as people in Japan, and we wrote for the magazine.

  In the article, how Mr. Morita started to send used wheelchairs to overseas children after he got diagnosed with a cancer, how we collect, refurbish, and deliver wheelchairs abroad through overseas partners, and the importance of those partners are written. There are also a report of the Global Citizenship Award and a comment that it is all thanks to voluntary members that we have been able to continue our activities.

  We appreciate the reporter having interest in our NGO and carrying the article. We also hope that our activities are known to people both in and outside Japan and that we get more supporters.

September 4, 2021    Secretariat

     The article introducing our NGO              The front cover of the August issue
　　
                                (Click the pages to enlarge)

  Our new overseas partner, Rajanagarindra Institute of Child Development(RICD), Thailand, has told us that they finally received wheelchairs.

  The ship loading 175 wheelchairs had left Tokyo port on July 20, and reached the port of Laem Chabang Port, Thailand, around August 5. What with the corona crisis in the country and the procedure of tax clearance, however, the wheelchair container finally arrived at RICD on August 27.

  The wheelchairs delivered are all undone, so RICD staff will start refurbishing them from now. The refurbished wheelchairs are to be provided for disabled children who are fit for each wheelchair’s size. RICD is a solid organization and we are happy to have them as our partner and send them wheelchairs.

August 30, 2021     Secretariat

« At RICD »

RICD wheelchair project members taking out wheelchairs

               Wheelchairs with RICD project members

  We were looking for a country where we can send wheelchairs undone since it’s not possible to do refurbishing work under the state of emergency. Then, Mr. Syed of Malaysia Dream Factory, our longtime overseas partner, requested us to send wheelchairs undone, saying “It’s not possible to move around due to the corona crisis, but we can refurbish wheelchairs in the factory.” So we decided to send him wheelchairs undone.

  On the morning of August 26, the ship with 90 wheelchairs left Tokyo port for Malaysia, expecting to arrive at Port Kelang on September 6. The total number of wheelchairs donated to Malaysia so far is 1,513 with this transport included. Please refer to the donation record graph.

  Malaysia is also reported to have a serious situation of the corona infection. After the container arrives at the port, it will take more time than usual to go through customs clearance and get the wheelchairs delivered to Mr. Syed’s factory. We just hope the container reaches the factory smoothly and they can start refurbishing the wheelchairs right away.

  We’d like to send as many wheelchairs as possible to overseas children in various ways. Thank you for your kind support in the future.

August 26, 2021     Secretariat

«  Scene of loading wheelchairs  »
  Prior to the departure of the ship from Tokyo Port, we loaded 90 wheelchairs in the container on August 18, though it was raining hard on that day. We did it on the site of Tama Packaging Industry Co., Ltd., our activity base until last year.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　Loading work in the rain.

(Left) Covering with a wooden frame to prevent the load from collapsing when the container is opened.
(Right) The truck towing a 20-foot container departed for Tokyo Port.

  The new corona virus infection has increased so rapidly that the state of emergency is extended until the end of August and we cannot have any meetings for refurbishing wheelchairs for the meantime. Under this situation, however, children’s wheelchairs have been offered to us from special schools in the Kanto area. Our NGO, entrusted to send them to overseas children, is groping a way of delivering them abroad.

  We sent 180 wheelchairs to our new partner, RICD, Thailand, last month from this viewpoint. When we deliver wheelchairs abroad, it’s essential that the overseas partner is capable of refurbishing wheelchairs. As it is almost impossible for us to refurbish wheelchairs and send them under the present conditions, receivers are limited to those capable of refurbishing work even though we send wheelchairs undone.

  “Malaysia Dream Factory” in Malaysia, which Mr. Syed Putra Syed Mokhtar, ex-vice president of ALEPS^＊, founded with our NGO’s support for both producing and refurbishing wheelchairs locally, is that very partner.
    ＊ALEPS:Alumni Look East Policy Society

  Malaysia is in a similar situation with COVID-19 and there are severe restrictions of activities, Syed says. Even so, he wants wheelchairs, saying “We can refurbish wheelchairs. Send us wheelchairs undone, it’s OK.” We held an online board of directors in a hurry and has decided to send 90 wheelchairs undone to Malaysia. We have outsourced packing, too. We expect to ship 90 wheelchairs around the middle of August.

  We hope to send lots of wheelchairs to overseas children in various ways. We’d like your continued cooperation in the future.

August 3, 2021     Hirokazu Morita

  The ship loaded with 175 wheelchairs left Tokyo port at 16:30, July 20, for our new overseas partner, Rajanagarindra Institute of Child Development, RICD, in Thailand. As for RICD, we had received a request to send them children’s wheelchairs from Mr. Tani, the chief director of an NPO “Wheelchairs of Hope.”
  “Wheelchairs of Hope,” quite similar to our NGO, is an organization which has been working on sending wheelchairs to overseas countries since 2006. Their wheelchairs, however, are for grownups only and they have often been asked for children’s wheelchairs by their overseas partners. Mr. Tani, aware of our activities, has made the above request of us.

  It took a while for us to make a decision because we couldn’t include RICD into our donating schedule right away, but we did decide to send them our wheelchairs this time. The reason is that we appreciate RICD’s posture of wheelchair management as below.
1. RICD understands that Japanese wheelchairs are of high quality and that
    even used wheelchairs are usable enough.
2. RICD are capable of refurbishing wheelchairs themselves.
3. RICD can make sure whether or not each wheelchair is fit for its user in
    providing wheelchairs for children.
4. RICD has built up a system that they can repair wheelchairs when they
    are broken or not in order.
5. RICD can provide a bigger wheelchair when a child outgrow their
    wheelchair by exchanging wheelchairs, and they can also provide such
    outgrown wheelchair for another child who is fit for it.

  Mr. Tani explained to us about RICD(click here to see the video introducing what RICD is like) and we’ve got to consider RICD as our new partner. RICD’s request was that they want wheelchairs as soon as possible, they can refurbish wheelchairs if wheelchairs are sent un-refurbished, and they will bear the expenses of marine transport. So we’ve sent 175 wheelchairs un-refurbished. The ship is to arrive at Laem Chabang Port, Thailand on August 2. The total number of wheelchairs sent to Thailand so far is 780. Please refer to the donation record graph.

  The situation of COVID-19 infection in Thailand is quite serious now. I do hope the 175 wheelchairs will reach RTCD safely and be delivered to children who need them.

July 21, 2021 Hirokazu Morita

〇Loading wheelchairs into the container.
  We loaded wheelchairs into the container at Tachihi Warehouse of Nishitama Transport Company, Tachikawa, on July 13. The 40-foot container has become full of wheelchairs.

　　　　The 40-foot container leaving for Tokyo Port.