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36 - NGO World - September 2007 www.ngoworld.pk

What projects are you currently

working on in Afghanistan?

We are shipping wheelchairs

through USAID's Denton Pro-

gramme for wheelchair distribu-

tion in October 2007. If we can

get the wheelchairs to

Afghanistan by the end of

September, we will send a team

of eight staff and volunteers to

distribute these wheelchairs andother mobility aids in the Istalif

area, working with Sozo Interna-

tional. We will only be sending

60 wheelchairs at present, and

will work on finding storage fa-

cilities to continue sending

chairs on a regular basis for dis-

tributions of at least 180 wheel-

chairs twice a year.

Every wheelchair we donate

is first properly fitted for the in-

dividual. A wheelchair that doesnot fit properly will only cause

problems. We educate each re-

cipient and/or the family about

health issues, such as pressure

sores, and wheelchair care and

maintenance. The Mobility Pro-

ject also hopes to implement

more sports camps during each

distribution in Afghanistan; the

purpose of these camps is to

show the recipient what they are

capable of doing despite having

a disability... whether it be play-

ing basketball or volleyball, or

working, going to school or car-

ing for their family.

How do you meet your funding

requirements?

Funding has been the most

difficult part of working in

Afghanistan. Shipping a con-

tainer of wheel-chairs costs

$9000 (PKR 549,000) approxi-

mately. We then need four staff

members to oversee the distri-

bution as well as volunteers to

help with the seating and posi-

tioning. Our primary source of

funding is individual donations.

As a small organisation, it has

been difficult to maintain our

work in Afghanistan, even

though it is where we wish to

spend the most time. We are

trying to get transportation forthe wheelchairs through the

Denton programme. This will

greatly help us offset our ex-

penses.

What challenges do NGOs face

in Afghanistan?

The government bureaucracy

is one challenge. We recently

needed a Duty Free Letter to

ship wheelchairs through the

Denton Programme and thistook us at least a month - and

help from the US President's of-

fice - to get it. Financing our

projects is a challenge; the cul-

tural differences are a challenge.

We do not want to offend or be

culturally unaware, but yet need

to get our job done. As women

leading the organisation, it can

be a bit uncomfortable to be a

leader in this culture. On a per-

sonal note - as a wheelchair user,

the obvious difficulty is lack of

accessibility due to absence of

ramps, bad roads. The political

climate and concern for safety is

not so much a challenge while

in-country but convincing your

Board of Directors, who have not

been to Afghanistan, that the

situation is okay is definitely a

challenge.

Who will be funding your up-

coming projects?

Individual donors who con-

tribute to our organisation.

What other areas could NGOs

get involved in Afghanistan?

Adaptive, wheelchair sports

programmes.

In your view, what is the poten-

tial for NGOs to do sustainable

development work in

Afghanistan?

I believe it is very possible for

NGOs to do sustainable work, al-

though much of this is depend-

ent on the stability of the political

AFGHANISTAN

Mobility mobilises haAccording to estimates by the California-based NGO Wheelchair Foundation, there are 750,000 people in Afghanistan in dire need of wheelch

and Afghanistan. Jenny Smith, Vice President Mobility Project, shares her future plans, experiences and views with Fakhra Hassan.

RAISING THE SPIRITS: The Mobility Project, backed by California-

promoting the institutionalisation of vocational training and spor

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September 2007 - NGO World - 37www.ngoworld.pk

situation.

How could development work be

expedited in Afghanistan? Could

a network of functioning NGOs

speed up development work? If

so, what would be the chal-

lenges?

Networking and working to-

gether is a key in being successful

and getting things done. If NGOs

could work together, I believe

progress could be made more

quickly. The challenges would be

deciding who is in charge of what

and who pays for which expenses.

Any future projects planned for

Afghanistan?

In October 2007, we hope to be

in Kabul and Istalif. Depending on

this trip and funding, we will hope

to return each Spring and Fall. We

also work in other countries. We

have upcoming outreach in Mex-

ico (two sports camps and a tennis

tournament in December and four

weeks in the Summer 2008), prob-

able distributions and sports

camps in Thailand and Morocco,

as well as interest from organisa-

tions in the US, Samoa and Pak-

istan.N

AFGHANISTAN

ndicapped Afghansility Project, a Washington-based NGO, has been providing services to people with disabilities in Costa Rica, Mexico, Thailand, El Salvador

O Wheelchair Foundation, is providing wheelchairs to Afghans handicapped by the senseless war and is encouraging and

bled.