By Rose B. Palacio

Davao City (22 March) -- Wheelchairs for persons with disabilities are made available under the auspices of Wheelchairs for Mindanao project funded by the Sen. Leahy War Victims Fund administered by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Handicap International.

Davao Jubilee Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled (DJFRD) project director Evelyn Cabigon said the Wheelchairs for Mindanao project aims to integrate disabled persons in their communities by improving their mobility and access to development opportunities through the provision of mobility devices such as wheelchairs.

This activity is also in response to the call of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for private entities and non-government organizations (NGOs) to help the government’ in providing assistance to PWDs.

The project has partnered with local organizations which provide services to PWDs in Mindanao for the distribution of wheelchairs which becomes a component of their existing services.

Called distribution units (DUs), they provide the services necessary when a person receives a wheelchair or other mobility device. The DUs are located in key cities in Mindanao: Cotabato (HI Phils-Cotabato field office), Davao (Davao Jubilee Rehabilitation Foundation, Inc.), Cagayan de Oro (Philippine Service of Mercy Foundation, Inc.), Zamboanga (Loving Witness of Hope Foundation, Inc.), and in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur (Loving Presence Foundation, Inc.).

Handicap International is an international humanitarian organization based in France that works to improve the quality of life and the living conditions of PWDs in developing countries and in post-conflict zones.