Stories:
Call to action for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
January 16, 2009
This is a call to action to assist the people of the island nation of Sri Lanka. For the months of January and February, 2009, Wheelchair Foundation will be focusing our fundraising efforts to supply much-needed wheelchairs to the disabled and less fortunate of Sri Lanka. Won’t you please help us? We have set a goal of providing 520 all terrain tire-equipped wheelchairs to Sri Lanka, and we are working to raise $84,000 to do so. Every donation helps. Your donation of $150 will provide one wheelchair to someone waiting and in desperate need in Sri Lanka.
Our partners in Sri Lanka continue to ask for these much-needed wheelchairs. Together we are working to send relief to the Sri Lankan people.
In late December, 2004, a major tsunami took about 31,000 lives in Sri Lanka, left more than 6,300 missing and 443,000 displaced, and destroyed an estimated $1.5 billion worth of property. The effects of this natural catastrophe are still being dealt with four years later.
Thousands were injured in the tsunami, and thousands more have been injured in the aftermath and clean-up efforts. The destructive force of the event left behind massive piles of rubble, with buildings, cars and furniture strewn together and blended into a dangerous mix. In the clean-up efforts, many Sri Lankans have experienced severe lower limb injuries from sharp objects, including broken glass and torn metal, as well as exposed electrical power lines and other dangers. These seemingly simple injuries lead to infection and often require amputation due to a lack of adequate medical care.
Many who were disabled prior to the 2004 disaster lost their lives simply because they were unable to flee the tidal surge. And there were accounts of family members being left behind and washed away, never to be seen again. Those who did escape were unable to take their wheelchairs and prosthetics with them in the rush to evacuate.
In a country of more than 21 million people, where the average daily wage is equal to roughly $10 USD, access to mobility devices like wheelchairs is extremely limited. The majority of those in need of a wheelchair are unable to afford one. These people are faced with the difficult task of just surviving daily life in an island country that is at war with itself.
Daily fighting between Tamil separatist and government forces have left thousands dead and thousands more wounded for life. Many of those affected by the ongoing conflict are left to deal with their injuries on their own. Hospitals and clinics are unable to supply wheelchairs to recovering patients and individuals, and they are forced to leave the hospital to try and rebuild shattered lives, devastated by war, natural disaster and disability.
Wheelchair Foundation has provided more than 3,000 wheelchairs to the people of Sri Lanka, but it is not enough. There are an estimated 610,000 disabled individuals on the island of Sri Lanka right now, and the number is growing daily.
We ask you to work together with us to help prove that everyone should have the opportunity to be mobile. Every dollar donated will help the Sri Lankan people.
