Wheelchairs for Kids

Wheelchairs for kids (WFK) is an Australian organisation that is entirely composed by retired volunteers. The organisations’ mission is to manufacture and distribute wheelchairs to children in under-resourced countries of the world: with the aim to make them gain a new level of freedom and mobility.   

WFK produces a total of 3550 wheelchairs a year. The chairs are built specifically for rough terrain, adjustable to the child’s size and with the possibilities to give support to the head and arms. They are thus an important asset as the wheelchairs are ideal for the rough African terrain and the different set up variabilities make the chairs practical  for the many different disabilities we have encountered throughout Zambia.

A wheelchair, in a continent as Africa, and developing countries such as Zambia allows disabled kids to have an improved quality of life. This includes sitting in a better upright position, instead of lying around, the possibility to attend school, be less dependent and to play outside with other children. Child sized wheelchairs are hard to find, and it is close to impossible in developing countries. 

The founder Marco Kerkhof came across a child with a wheelchair from WFK on one of his trips to Zambia. Blu spring and Wheelchairs for kids started their first collaboration in 2018 when the first container was shipped from Perth to Lusaka (through Mozambique), providing 166 wheelchairs.

Ever since, there has been a regular collaboration between the two organisations. So far, a total of 3 containers have been delivered to Zambia, and we have nearly reached 500 wheelchairs being distributed all over the country with the help of several organisations and volunteers.

The first two containers were filled with 166 wheelchairs whereas the last carried 163 with an addition of 3 boxes containing spare parts.

In order to keep this campaign growing and to make this project as successful as possible we have been closely working together and cooperating with a variety of local organisations, physiotherapists and technicians. Furthermore, to assist and reinforce the team of people knowledgeable of the correct assembly and adjusting of the wheelchairs, we organised two workshops to cover the basic information. The workshops given during our last visit (late 2019) were located in Chipata and Lusaka respectively and attended by a total of 40 people. The attendants, originated from all over Zambia and had a variety of professions: physiotherapists, occupational therapists, technicians, government delegates, nurses, a bike mechanic and a driver.

The courses were composed of a theoretical and a practical part. During the theory we tried to cover the main and most important elements for a good assessment of a childs’ fitting in a new wheelchair. Other topics such as the importance of the upright position during feeding and the prevention of pressure sores were also covered. Throughout the practical part participants were asked to assemble and fit a child in a new wheelchair in little groups. 

This campaign has entirely been made possible by the donations and funding we have received over the past couple of years. Without the support we would not have been able to reach such great achievements.