Twenty-nine of Baku and Sumgait's neediest
disabled adults and children get wheels
Baku, Azerbaijan, 29 January, 2003 - World Vision Azerbaijan will help
distribute 29 brand new wheelchairs to some of Baku and Sumgait's neediest disabled
children and adults this month. The wheelchairs were donated on Tuesday by the
French Ambassador, Chantal Poiret, in a ceremony at the French Embassy.
The donation was made in response to a request made by Christ the Redeemer
Catholic Church in Baku on behalf of the poorest disabled people in the urban
region. There are hundreds of people in Baku and Sumgait who are immobile due
to disabilities, and who cannot afford to buy a wheelchair. This immobility
has several hazardous affects on the individuals, their families and communities.
The French Embassy, in coordination with a French NGO, Handicape International,
quickly responded to this request. The ability to be mobile will enable 24 adults
and 5 children to be more independent. They will be able to take better care
of themselves, and as many are restricted to their beds without a wheelchair,
they will also be a more active part of their households and communities, simply
by being able to leave their houses.
World Vision, an international humanitarian relief and development organization,
was chosen to distribute 19 of the wheelchairs and the Catholic Church in Baku
will distribute ten. World Vision was selected to be a partner in this initiative
based on their close work with urban communities through the USAID-funded Extended
Urban Community Development Program (eUCDP). Of the disabled people in all of
the eUCDP communities, World Vision determined who would receive wheelchairs
based on who has the greatest need, and whose lives and families would be most
greatly impacted by the new wheelchair.
"While this is only a start to addressing the larger issues faced by a
large population of Baku and Sumgait citizens with a wide range of disabilities,
these wheelchairs will truly give some individuals a new chance," explains
Chris Papworth, World Vision's eUCDP Project Manager. "With the Catholic
Church in Baku's impetus, the French Ambassador's commitment to improving the
lives of Azerbaijan's disabled, and World Vision's two years of close work within
the communities, 29 people in Baku and Sumgait are going to experience the freedom
of movement, many of them for the first time in their lives."
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