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.

  The professional technicians gave us useful advice such as how to return the belts and cushions removed from the wheelchair and the way of fixing. Every tip was understandable. We’re so grateful.

  As for today’s results, we have completed cleaning 17 units and packing 3 units. Since many of the Vietnamese members were new to the activity, we focused on cleaning. Next time we will be able to increase the number of wheelchairs packed by doing refurbishing work on the wheelchairs that have been cleaned.

  At this point, we have completed packing 44 units for Vietnam, and will finish the remaining 46 units at the June and July meetings.

May 31, 2023      Secretariat

(Left) We’re still on our guard for Covid-19. Taking temperature and disinfection.
(Right) Mr. Saito, a regular participant, arriving early and starting to clean a wheelchair.

　　　　　　　Vietnamese group gathering one after another.

(Left) Vietnamese team at lunch. Looks like having a lot of fun.
(Right) Sagami Women’s Uni group at lunch. The student on the far right is a first-time participant, saying, “I enjoyed it. I will continue to participate next time.”

　　　　　　　　　　　　　Thank you, everyone!

  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.

  Meanwhile, the number of units for Vietnam, which is in line with our donation plan, remained at 33. So we held an extra mini-meeting on May 21 to increase the number for Vietnam as much as possible.

  Due to the sudden scheduling, we had only six people on the day: one from Sagami Women’s University, one general volunteer, and four staff members. Although it was a small group, we finished cleaning, refurbishing, and packing 9 units for Vietnam.

  Now 42 units have been completed for Vietnam; we plan to finish the remaining 50 or so at the June and July mini-meetings, and ship 90 wheelchairs to Vietnam by the end of July!

May 23, 2023      Secretariat

(Left) A Sagami Women’s Uni member and a volunteer working together.
(Right) A staff member working on refurbishing.

(Left) Another staff member working on details.
(Right) Final checking before packing.
Our goal is always “as good as new!”

We enjoyed delicious lunch together.
Thank you, everyone, for joining today.

  On April 23, we had a mini-meeting with Sagami University group, Vietnamese group, and voluntary members, 27 participants in total. It was a bit chilly in the morning, but gradually it became warmer and a perfect day for the activity. The Vietnamese group had more than 10 participants for the first time in a long time, responding to our request to “gather a large number of people since this is a refurbishing work for Vietnam.”

  Abebe, who is from Ethiopia, joined after a long interval. We’d like more Ethiopian people to join from now on.

  We also had the participation of wheelchair professionals who provided powerful technical instruction. Their recent guidance seems to have made a big difference in our working level.　

  We’ve completed 12 wheelchairs for Vietnam, though we aimed at 20 units for the day. Anyway, this brings us 32 units for Vietnam. Our goal is shipping 90 units. We expect to complete it by the end of July at the latest. We’d like to continue the Vietnam project with the cooperation of many of you.

  In addition, we packed four walkers for Ukraine, preparing 54 units for Ukraine in total. It’ll be a three-organization cooperative shipment; we plan to ship to Ukraine in May.

April 25, 2023      Secretariat

(Left) Routine before work: checking temperature, disinfection with alcohol, and filling in names and contact numbers.
(Right) Many experienced participants began working immediately.

(Left) Regular voluntary member, Saito, joining us only in the morning, but working politely and carefully.
(Right) Ethiopian member, Abebe, working on wheelchairs right away as he knows a lot about the work.

Vietnamese group. We’re glad to have many members today!

(Left) Sagami Women’s Uni group, doing packing.
(Right) A member of Vietnamese group working with Sagami Women’s Uni group. International exchange, isn’t it?

(Left) Mr. M, who brought us a wheelchair in February, brought another one. A staff member received it on behalf of the president. Thank you very much.
(Right) Walkers for Ukraine.

Lunchtime.

Thank you, everyone. We’d like you to join us next month again!

  On April 9, we had the first mini-meeting in FY 2023 with Sagami Women’s University group. Along with 11 participants in total, there were also two professional wheelchair technicians coming.

  One was Mr. Miyata, who has joined our meeting to instruct us several times. The other one, Mr. Sakamoto, said he came to observe our activities, but he gave us lots of technical instructions instead of just observing. Both of them have their own areas of expertise and it was really helpful of them to raise the technical level of our activities as a group of amateurs.

  We worked on completing 12 units, which are needed for 50 wheelchairs for Ukraine. With the small number of participants, the goal of 12 units was not completed until after 15:00. This will allow us to ship to Ukraine, scheduled for the end of April or early May!

Thank you, everyone, for your great work!

April 11, 2023      Secretariat

(Left) We never fail to take measures for Covid-19: disinfection of hands with alcohol, taking temperature, and filling out the participation record.
(Right) Mr. Saito came first as usual and was absorbed in his work.

Sagami Women’s Uni group, divided into two teams and doing cleaning and packing respectively.

(Left) Lunchtime.
(Right) President Morita came in the afternoon and joined the final photo.

  There are not many photos this time, but it was a long day, from 10:00 to past 15:00. Thanks to everyone’s hard work, we were able to achieve our goal with a small number of participants. We also received a lot of appropriate and valuable advice from Mr. Sakamoto and Mr. Miyata, who provided technical guidance. Thanks to them, we can confidently deliver wheelchairs to Ukrainian children under war.　Thank you all for your hard work.

  On April 2, a dozen employees of Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd., which has been supporting financially our activities for years, came to our Haijima Warehouse and worked with us. Their previous visit was November 17, 2019, so it’s three years and three months since then.

  Among the 14 participants were three children. There had been no children during the corona crisis. With their bright and cheerful voices, the meeting went on in a peaceful atmosphere.

  We aimed to complete cleaning, refurbishing, and packing 20 wheelchairs for Ukraine, but it was 18 that we finished. Though there were 18 attendants including staff, that goal was a bit too high. So far we’ve got 38 units complete for Ukraine. The final goal is 50. We’d like to make it in the next meeting.

  Thanks to Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. employees, we made great progress. Thank you very much.

April 3, 2023      Secretariat

  President Morita gave a speech expressing thanks at the opening, “We’d like to send wheelchairs to children suffering from the war in Ukraine. We need your help.”
  After that a staff member explained how to work and the participants were divided into three groups, cleaning, refurbishing, and packing.

Each group focusing on its work.

Packing was increased to two groups midway for the work efficiency.

The children were a great help.

Lunchtime. Not spacious, but lots of fun to have lunch outdoors.

Thank you so much for your great work!

  On March 12, we had a mini-meeting with Sagami Women’s University group, Vietnamese group, and voluntary members. The participants were 21 in total.

  Mr. Miyata, a wheelchair professional who runs a wheelchair and sitting-aid manufacturing business in Hanno City, was among the three voluntary members. He taught us a lot about cleaning, refurbishing, how to treat wheelchairs, etc. He did tire changes for us, too.

  On this day, we worked on the project for Ukraine, which was requested again. This work was done in parallel with the work for Vietnam. Vietnamese group finished cleaning, refurbishing, and packing ten units for Ukraine, Sagami Women’s Uni group packing six for Vietnam, and others cleaning and refurbishing five.

  The project for Ukraine is to send about 40 wheelchairs and buggies around the middle of April. It’s expected to be a joint project of four non-profit organizations. Once this is achieved, the promised donation of 500 units to Ukraine will be completed. We expect it’ll be done with the support of transportation companies like the previous time. Although this may affect the shipment of 90 units to Vietnam in June this year, we hope to manage to send the wheelchairs to both countries.

March 13, 2023      Secretariat

We never fail to take measures for Covid-19: hands disinfection with alcohol, taking temperature, and filling in the participation record.

(Left) Vietnamese group and staff taking out wheelchairs to be cleaned for Ukraine. Raising and lowering wheelchairs is hard work, though we do this frequently.
(Right) Wheelchairs waiting for packing for Vietnam.

Sagami Women’s Uni group (left) and Vietnamese group (right).

(Left) Vietnamese group doing packing work.
(Right) Lovely message by a Vietnamese member, written on the package for Vietnam.

Lunchtime in the spring air.

Thank you, everyone, for all your hard work.

  On February 26, 2023, we had a meeting in a cold, windy weather. The participants were Sagami University group, Vietnamese group, volunteers, and staff, 17 in total.

  There was a new participant, who learned about our NGO through the website and contacted us in advance. Her job treats welfare equipment, and she knows a lot about wheelchairs.

  We worked to complete 90 units for Vietnam. Vietnamese group finished cleaning and refurbishing eight units, Sagami University group packing eight, and others cleaning and refurbishing five.

  At today’s meeting, two wheelchairs were brought in by parents. They see the website of our NGO and bring theirs on their own. Sometimes, sorry to say, the child who used the wheelchair dies and the parents brings it to us. It’s hard for the parents to part with the wheelchair with full of memory, we hear. They bring such a precious thing, hoping that someone overseas will make use of it. We’d like to realize their hope.

  The corona crisis has been calming down these days. In the near future, we will consider restarting a meeting with forty to fifty people. If we can do so, we’ll be able to complete preparing 90 units in about three months, which will enable us to send wheelchairs abroad steadily. We will deliver as many wheelchairs as possible and as quickly as possible to children overseas.

March 3, 2023      Secretariat

Preparation: putting wheelchairs out of the warehouse and setting them before voluntary members come.

(Left) Mr. Saito always comes first. Thank you for working in the cold.
(Right) Vietnamese group, cleaning and refurbishing.

(Left) Ms. T, interested in our activity through our website, has a good knowledge of wheelchairs. It was a good opportunity for us to ask her lots of questions.
(Right) Sagami Uni group, focusing on packing. Red tape shows they are for Vietnam.

(Left) Mr. M. brought his wheelchair to the meeting. Thank you very much.
(Right) Mr. and Ms. N brought theirs. Their daughter, who used this wheelchair, passed away eight years ago, but they said they couldn’t give it up as it was filled with memories. After they saw our website, they decided to bring it thinking that it would be useful for overseas children. We are very thankful.

　　　　　　　　　　Lunchtime.

Thank you, everyone, for working in the cold!

  On February 12, a rather warm day for this season, we had a meeting in a little larger scale than before, 21 participants in total. We decided to have a bit large meeting since the new infection of Covid-19 has been decreasing lately.

  We did cleaning, refurbishing, and packing wheelchairs for Vietnam. We’ve finished packing 7 units, cleaning and refurbishing 12 units, and cleaning 4 units, which was quite successful in these days.

  We’re planning to send wheelchairs for Vietnam around June 2023. If the situation of Covid-19 continues to calm down, we’d like to accelerate our preparations for Vietnam by getting more people together than we have today.

February 14, 2023      Secretariat

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

(Left) The plum tree next to the warehouse had beautiful white flowers. What a pleasant day!
(Right) Preparing before volunteers come. Getting everything ready: thermometer, participant list, rubbing alcohol, and wheelchairs.

(Left) Vietnamese group, starting to work as soon as they arrived.
(Right) Another Vietnamese group, starting refurbishing work.

The 11-member Vietnamese group, very active in cleaning and refurbishing.

(Left) Mr. Saito never fails to come, working silently.
(Right) Wheelchairs which were cleaned and refurbished, waiting for packing.

Sagami Women’s Uni group, focusing on packing.

Lunchtime.

Thank you, everyone, for your good work！
We’d like to ask more people to join our activities from now on.

  On January 29, we had the second mini meeting this year with Sagami Women’s University group and Vietnamese group. To our relief, the new infection of Covid-19 in Tokyo has been declining. Still, we limited the number of participants and took full measure for Covid-19.

  We completed packing 30 units for Malaysia, which were selected at the previous meeting. Along with 40 units already packed, there are 70 wheelchairs ready for sending. We’ll send 183 pairs of orthoses as well. They are stored in 15 cardboard boxes.

  The following is what we’re going to send to Malaysia this time.
18 wheelchairs, 19 walkers, 12 sitting aids, 10 buggies, 5 standing aids,
 6 bathchairs, 183 orthoses

  After packing work, we finished cleaning five wheelchairs for Vietnam. We had planned to start refurbishing wheelchairs for Vietnam in December, but it was delayed due to the sudden shipment for Ukraine. We would like to complete the cleaning and maintenance of 90 units and send them to Vietnam as soon as possible for the volunteers from Vietnam who have been participating every time as regular members.

February 2, 2023       Secretariat

Click on the photos to enlarge them and view them consecutively.

(Left) Vietnamese group, starting to pack wheelchairs for Malaysia immediately they arrived.
(Right) Sagami Women’s Uni group, also packing. They’re writing wheelchair numbers on the surface of the package.

(Left) Mr. Saito, coming early for wheelchair cleaning.
(Right) High-pressure cleaner donated by Mr. Saito. We already own steam cleaners, but now we have added a high-pressure cleaner. This will allow us to deal with even more difficult wheelchair stains.

Lunchtime, enjoyed by each group at a separate location.

Thank you everyone, for good work!

  On January 15, we had the first meeting in 2023. We had wondered whether we’d be able to hold a meeting as Tokyo’s new infection on previous Friday was 11,241. Our decision was to have a meeting with limited number of people.

  It was cloudy at the beginning, but light rain began to fall before noon, and we ended up after lunch. The participants were Sagami Women’s University group, Vietnamese group, and staff, 12 in total. During the morning activity, we finished cleaning five wheelchairs and selecting 30 wheelchairs for Malaysia.

  The five wheelchairs we’ve just cleaned are for Vietnam. We’re planning to finish refurbishing 90 units by June and send them around June or July. Another project is sending special wheelchairs to Malaysia. Since our partner in Malaysia, Mr. Seyd, Aleps Dream Factory representative, had requested us to send him equipment useful in treatment, other than wheelchairs, we prepared the following things.

sitting aid     walking trainer   standing trainer     bath chair            orthosis

  The equipment we have prepared are 70 units of sitting aid, walking trainer, standing trainer, and bath chair as well as normal wheelchairs, and 180 pairs of orthoses.

  We will now focus on preparing for the third Ukraine project, for which we expect to receive even more requests, and on Vietnam. We look forward to your continued support.

January 19,2023      Secretariat

Click on the photos to enlarge them and view them consecutively.

Sagami Women’s Uni group.                         Vietnamese group.

(Left)Both groups worked under the roof, avoiding rain.
(Right)Lunchtime.

Thanks, everyone!