Our NGO gets used wheelchairs from special schools in the Kanto district, refurbishes them and sends them to overseas children. We sometimes get electric ones among the collected wheelchairs, but we don’t send them abroad because it is difficult for our partners overseas, which receive those used wheelchairs, to fix electric ones or to get spare parts to fix them.

  However, electric wheelchairs are not only expensive but also high-performance, and overseas children are sure to be happy to use them if they can. We looked for organizations which can send electric wheelchairs abroad and have found a perfect NGO, SAKURA WHEELCHAIR PROJECT. MR. Sho Saito, president of Saito Factory, is the chief director of this project.

　
  SAKURA PROJECT has been sending electric wheelchairs to mostly Pakistan, 630 wheelchairs in total. Mr. Saito himself has visited Pakistan fifteen times to hand down his techniques. Recently the project has widened the area to Nepal, Mongolia, and Costa Rica. Mr. Saito is such an admirable man.

  As for electric wheelchairs, we intend to leave them to Saito Factory and ask them to send them to foreign countries.

April, 2019 Hirokazu Morita

Mr. Saito, the Tanabes(twins), who came to help us, and Morita. They loaded 14 electric wheelchairs onto their truck, leaving no room. They carry them to Ibaragi prefecture and refurbish them there.

  Tama Technical High School members, who attend our monthly meeting regularly, got the award “FUREAI KANSHAJO 21(Gratitude for close relationship)” from Tokyo Mutual Aid Association for Teaching Staff. Their activities in our monthly meeting was highly valued.
  The members belong to JRC, which has had relation with our NGO for years, and they are always a great help in our refurbishing work. They also join other local activities such as electrical workshops in elementary schools, summer festival in Fussa and disaster drill in Fussa.

The following is why the JRC was awarded:
“The JRC of Tama Technical High School was founded in 2003 and has experience of refurbishing wheelchairs in the daycare facilities for elderly people. It has continuously kept refurbishing wheelchairs for children since 2005.”(from the website of Tokyo Mutual Aid Association for Teaching Staff)

  Their JRC got honored for the third time, in 2007, 2013, and this year 2019. No other club or group is said to have had this award three times. It’s Mr. Takano, who’s been in charge of JRC from the beginning, that has led the students to this honor.

(Left)The ceremony was held at Tokyo Garden Palace on January 11, 2019. Photo from website of Tokyo Mutual Aid Association for Teaching Staff.
(Right)Mr. Takano holding the plate of honor.

(Left)Their three plates. The center is this year’s, the left in 2007, the right in 2013.
(Right)The ceremony site.

March 21, 2019

  We received a request of two wheelchairs from the ambassador of Ethiopia, who has visited our monthly meeting, and I delivered two wheelchairs to the Etiopian embassy with Mr. Abebe, one of our volunteers.

  One of them is to be sent to Gambella, the birthplace of the ambassador, and the other to Gondal. The container for these wheelcahirs left Tokyo Bay in late January.

January 31,2019　Hirokazu Morita

(Left) The pink one for Gondal, the blue one at the back for G..
(Right) The girl who is waiting for our wheelchair.

  The blue one for the girl above.