July 23 was a terribly hot day with a temperature of 35°C. The strong sun shone into the meeting site in the morning, and we prepared two tarps and two tents for the activity.    To read more,,,

  We were offered wheelchairs from Miyashiro Special School for the first time in two years. They store wheelchairs that are gathered at school for a long time and call us when they get a certain number. It’s the cooperation of PTA board members and schoolteachers that makes this collection possible, and they are a big support for our NGO.

  We got 30 wheelchairs, including buggy-types and sitting-aids, a few car seats, bathchairs, and orthoses on July 20. Picking up more than 30 vehicles in one truck collection is efficient and very helpful.

  There were wheelchairs arranged under the roof before the truck arrived. Like the last time, PTA members helped us put a sticker “Miyashiro Special School July 2023” on each wheelchair and also load them into the truck. Although it was done in quite hot weather, we were able to finish it in a short time.

  We told them we’re going to send them to Ethiopia around the end of the year or in January. One of them asked, “Are you going to transport them by ship?” I explained, “We will load 90 units into a container and transport them to Ethiopia by ship, which will take about one month.” We’d like to provide information on which wheelchairs were delivered to which children whenever possible.

July 31, 2023      Secretariat

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

(Left) 30 wheelchairs arranged in the shade. PTA members were also waiting for us.
(Right) Putting a sticker on all the wheelchairs. Their brisk work was a lot of help.

30 units of wheelchairs, car seats, orthoses, all of them loaded into the truck in no time!

  In the middle is Ms. Tsukita, PTA president, who took care of all the details, including the coordination of the schedule for this event. The vice principal (third from the left), who came to see how things were going, was also included in the photo.
  Afterwards, they presented the truck driver and two staff members with cold drinks. It was delicious. Thank you, everyone!

  On July 9, we had a big meeting with Vietnamese group, Sagami Women’s University group, Tama Technical High School group, and voluntary members, 35 participants in total.    To read more,,,

  Our NGO got a request from Mr. Saito of Sakura Wheelchair Project to offer our children ‘s wheelchairs along with their electric wheelchairs to Milestone Society for the special persons, Pakistan.

  This time we sent 4 wheelchairs, 15 sitting-aids, 7 walkers, 2 car seats, 1 standing-aid, and 1 stretcher, 30 in total. We delivered these instruments to Bando City, the container loading site, after cleaning and packing them. Milestone Society would like to promote producing various kinds of instruments in Pakistan by getting different types of products as well as children’s wheelchairs, we hear.

  Loading at Bando City was done by Sakura Wheelchair Project on June 18. We were not able to take part in it. The container ship departed Yokohama Port at 13:10 on Sunday June 18, scheduled to arrive at Karachi, Pakistan, on July 21.

  This is the third shipment for Pakistan. We’ve sent 147 units, including 30 this time, to Milestone Society so far.　We’d like to keep sending wheelchairs to this partner, since they have both high technique and strong organizing ability.

  Click here for the donation record. The number of donations to Pakistan, 168, includes 21 units to Belize, Ecuador, and Pakistan, donated with the support of JICA in 2008 and 2018.

June 29, 2023      Secretariat

  Ukraine Project started with the call of Mr. Kimura(Photo right), a Japanese journalist living in London, and his wife.

  The 3rd shipment of 215 wheelchairs, a joint effort of three organizations, was loaded onto a container on May 18, and left Tokyo port for Hamburg, Germany, on May 31.

  The container ship is scheduled to arrive at Hamburg around July 2, and reach the port of Gdynia, Poland, around July 10. Some of the wheelchairs will be delivered to children who have taken refuge in Poland, and others will be delivered overland to children in Ukraine. These 51 wheelchairs and 10 walkers for this shipment are those offered by a dozen special schools and some individuals.

  Our donation to Ukraine so far has become 73 in total (walkers are not included). The total number of wheelchairs to overseas so far is 9,395. Click here for the donation record.

For the background of the third shipment, please see this article.

June 9, 2023      Secretariat

  We had our last activity in May. To our surprise, 17 volunteers from Vietnam came. Other participants were five Sagami Women’s University members, two volunteers, two professional technicians, and the staff, 31 in total. The weather was fine, and it was a pleasant day for the activity.    To read more,,,

  We got offered children’s wheelchairs from two facilities below.
May 22, Murasaki Aiikuen 15 units
May 25, Seiikuen Commuting Center 23 units

  With 38 wheelchairs stored at one time, our warehouse has been filled with nearly 190 units, which is about 90% occupied. These wheelchairs will be refurbished for Vietnam and will be ready for shipment at the end of July.

May 30, 2023      Secretariat

<Comprehensive Medical Rehabilitation Center Murasaki Aiikuen>

When the staff arrived, 15 wheelchairs were lined up under the crosswalk, covered with plastic to prevent staining. We immediately loaded up with the truck driver and headed for the warehouse in Haijima.



<Tama Ryokuseikai Seiikuen Commuting Center>

Wheelchairs that had been lined up in the facility were carried to the truck by the center staff.

We managed to load 23 units into the truck. We appreciate the help of the center staff.
(Right) From left to right: Mr. Koizumi, truck driver, and Mr. Nakajima.

  Our NGO has sent children’s wheelchairs to war-torn Ukraine twice, once with 12 and once with 10 units. At the request of additional shipment, we had proceeded refurbishing work since March.

  At the May 14 mini-meeting, six units were cleaned, refurbished, and packed, and we got ready to ship 61 wheelchairs to Ukraine.

  The packed wheelchairs were transported to the Oi Office of Sankyo Co. Here all the wheelchairs for the third shipment were collected and loaded into the container on May 18.

  Once again, the event was facilitated by Mr. and Mrs. Kimura, journalists living in London. The three organizations that participated in the project were the same as last time, Wheelchairs of Hope, Go! Fly! Wheelchairs, and our NGO.

  The wheelchairs are scheduled to leave Tokyo Port around June 1, arrive in Poland in early July, and head for Ukraine by land. We sincerely hope that these wheelchairs will reach Ukraine as soon as possible.

May 24, 2023      Secretariat

	(Above) The container that has been     loaded. (Left) Wheelchairs loaded in the container.   The ones with yellow tape on the   bottom are our wheelchairs.

    The mini-meeting originally scheduled for May 14 was cancelled for volunteers because rain was forecast the day before.

  Instead, the staff members did cleaning, refurbishing, and packing six wheelchairs for Ukraine. Thus the third shipment of 61 units to Ukraine was ready and loaded into the container on May 18.

To read more,,,