FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: How many people need wheelchairs but cannot afford one?
A: It is estimated that at least 100 million
children, teens and adults worldwide need a wheelchair but cannot
afford one. Some international organizations believe that the number
could be as high as 6% of the population of developing countries.
The number in Angola is 20% of population of 12 million people. Other
"landmine" countries such as Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cambodia,
Bosnia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Mozambique have extremely
high physical disability rates.
Q: Where are the wheelchairs manufactured?
A: We purchase wheelchairs from several manufacturers
in China that build a quality product designed to be easily maintainable
in developing countries.
Q: How much does a wheelchair cost?
A: We can purchase and deliver a wheelchair
to our distribution partners worldwide for an average of $150. For
China distributions, we can deliver them for $75. This wheelchair
would normally cost $500 in the U.S., but the large quantities that
we purchase allow us to deliver each one for roughly $150, by a 280-wheelchair
sea container. This same type of wheelchair sells for up to $1,700
US in some developing countries.
Q: How much do I have to donate to deliver
a wheelchair to a physically disabled person?
A: ANY AMOUNT HELPS! - $75 will help purchase
and deliver a new wheelchair in China to a person in need and supports
the mission of Wheelchair Foundation.
Q: How do you decide who gets a wheelchair?
A: We distribute wheelchairs worldwide through
a network of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) that have ongoing
humanitarian relief missions in the countries of wheelchair destination.
These distribution partners handle all aspects of the importation
and distribution of the wheelchairs to children that can now go to
school, adults that can now go to work and seniors that can once again
become an active part of family life and society.
Q: What is the goal of the Wheelchair Foundation?
A: Our goal is to distribute 1 million wheelchairs
in the next 5 years, and to further the awareness that a wheelchair
is no longer an unaffordable item for delivery in developing countries
throughout the world.
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YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, WE HAVE ANSWERS!
EMAIL US!
Contact@siliconvalleywheelchairproject.org
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