Week 3: Wheels for the World in Uganda 2021 - Supported Distribution

Supported Distribution to the Bidi Bid Refugee Camp, N.W. Uganda

Wheels Blog Week 3 (15th and 16th February 2021)

We are well into the Supported Distribution process now. The UK team members make a video call to our HHA colleagues in Bidi Bidi at the start of each distribution session at around 07:00 and 11:00 each Monday and Tuesday morning and try to sign off by video at the session end, three hours later.

This week we have refined the process and are mainly using photos rather than live WhatsApp video to advise on the suitability of equipment being proposed and we are finding the team ‘on the ground’ are gaining in confidence each week. The reason for using photos is the variable quality of the internet, the ability to see the client more clearly and the difficulties associated with hearing each other. Using photos and WhatsApp messages seems to be working well.

This week we saw a total of twenty clients who had conditions such as hip dislocation, polio, stokes, T.B., paralysis, cerebral palsy and disabilities as a result of accidents and we advised the HHA team on adjusting wheelchairs and crutches as well as encouraging mobility where possible to those able to walk short distances.

Once again we were encouraged to hear stories of grateful clients such as Aliru, a 40 year old lady, who had polio as a child which had left her with contracted legs. She is a Ugandan national in Yumbe District and has 11 children. She was unable to go to the market or any social gatherings as the only way for her to get about was by crawling on her knees. The team provide her with a self-propelling wheelchair, with adaptions to support her leg contractures.

She is now very happy that the sun will not burn her legs and she can now go to the market, church, conferences, meetings and visits.

We feel privileged to be able to help in this distribution, although we probably would all love to be out there with the HHA team if we were able. It is so rewarding to see the HHA team growing in ability each week. Please pray for them especially for guidance as to what equipment to load each day and for safety as they travel.

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