Nigeria has more polio than anywhere in the world. There are uncounted tens of thousands of children and adults who spend their lives crawling on the ground. Billions of dollars have been given for polio eradication by the Gates Foundation, Rotary International, and others. The good news is that the World Health Organization has now declared Nigeria polio-free. The bad news is that once you are crippled with polio you will be crippled for life. Practically nothing is being done to help the tens of thousands of survivors. Most are hidden away, so that few people realize how huge the need is.

          Dr. Ron Rice, a retired Presbyterian pastor from Seattle, and his Nigerian partner Ayuba Gufwan, who walks on his hands from polio, have their own shop in Jos, Nigeria, with 46 employees, where they build these 3-wheeled, hand-pedaled "tricycles" out of bicycle parts for $150. Five of the employees are polio survivors themselves. They have now built and donated over 40,000 wheelchairs to Nigerian polio survivors. This is by far the largest wheelchair ministry in all of Nigeria, a huge country that is two thirds the population of the U.S.

          For $150, a child's life is absolutely transformed. Now they can go to school. Now they have hope and a future. Adults can now go to the market, to church or the mosque. They can get vocational training or an apprenticeship or start a small business in the market and become self-supporting. Wheelchairs are given to both Christians and Muslims. In a country frequently torn by tribal and religious violence, Christians giving wheelchairs to Muslims is many times a witness for peace and reconciliation. Even employees in the shop are both Christian and Muslim.

          The wheelchairs are given freely in the love of Jesus, for Jesus has taught us to have compassion on the poor, the crippled and the blind. The need is huge. At almost every wheelchair distribution, more disabled people come whose names were not on the list and have to go home heartbroken without a wheelchair.

          Wheelchairs for Nigeria is totally dependent on compassionate and generous people like you. Won't you help change the lives of these children and adults? For information on how to give a tax-deductible gift, visit the How to Help page.

 

 

For more information please e-mail us at info@wheelchairsfornigeria.org

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