Stories:
Takhar Province
Afghanistan
February 09, 2005
An eighteen year old boy, carrying a man of thirty years on his back crossing the road in the main bazaar of Talqan, the Capital of Takhar Province, was asked by someone where he was taking his elder brother. He just stopped on the roadside bringing down his brother from his back and spoke very loudly, today I am going to get a bicycle for my brother and my brother will ride on this bicycle himself. He was surrounded by many people because he was speaking very loudly and was asked, how can he get a bicycle for his brother because his family was a poor family and how can his brother ride on a bicycle because his brother was double amputee. He said that he was going to receive a wheelchair, donated by American people, from LIFE and that was the bicycle for his brother. He said this wheelchair would provide mobility to his brother. He would be moving on his own self whenever and wherever he wanted to go and would lighten his shoulders from carrying him on his back. When they reached to the distribution place the boy brought his brother down from his back and put him on the side and started helping LIFE team distribute the wheelchairs. A person who also brought his twelve-year-old disabled daughter to the distribution place to receive a wheelchair for her told LIFE staff that the boy helping them just gave a speech about these wheelchairs in the market. LIFE staff asked him why he was helping them instead of trying to get a wheelchair for his brother. He said he would certainly receive a wheelchair because he was doing the distribution himself but he wanted to help LIFE team before getting a wheelchair because he was so pleased with this generous donation by Wheelchair Foundation and LIFE. He said those people feel the burden and pain of serving disabled people who are having a difficult time. He said that his elder brother was disabled by birth and he has served his brother for thirty years. This wheelchair would enable his brother to move on his own and that was why he was so happy that he would receive a wheelchair for his disabled brother and he started helping LIFE team before receiving a wheelchair. LIFE staff met his brother and donated him a wheelchair and thanked him for his help in the distribution. His brother and he were very happy to receive the wheelchair. They appreciated LIFE and Wheelchair Foundation for donating a wheelchair to them.
