11 May 2023
We want to enable a world where we’re not needed
Firstly, thanks to SWIDN for marking the 3rd December International Day of People with Disabilities by giving us the chance to write about Motivation’s disability inclusion work.
We are a charity and social enterprise with a thirty-year history of wheelchair design and provision in less-resourced settings.
A staggering 75 million people in less-resourced settings are entitled to a wheelchair – yet more that 95% do not have one.
Our programmes help to ensure that governments, wheelchair services and community-based organisations in countries like India, Kenya, Malawi and Uganda provide the products and services the deliver disabled people’s rights.
We focus particularly on the right to independence, inclusion, health and wellbeing of children and adults with mobility disabilities, including spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy and spina bifida.
Motivation’s mission is to enable greater independence and opportunity for disabled people in less-resourced settings
Our ultimate aim is that wheelchair users can choose the products and services they want for their independence, health and wellbeing and people’s aspirations are not only met, but exceeded.
We run projects and use the evidence gathered to inspire change in:
- The quality and supply of wheelchairs and related devices;
- The quality and availability of wheelchair and rehabilitation services;
- The availability and awareness of inclusion services.
At the moment, these include modelling if and how high-quality and affordable wheelchairs can be manufactured in Kenya (so breaking the dependence on donated and imported products), using inclusive sports so schools enable disabled children to come to and stay in education, building a pool of community facilitators who boost early childhood development, and developing affordable sports wheelchairs and frames so that more people — wherever they live — can get involved in more sports.
Our work, together with that of our partners, makes a real difference to people’s lives. Appropriate assistive technology brings a cascade of health, social and financial benefits that impact not only disabled people but their families and communities.
But mobility and inclusion should not need to be an act of philanthropy.
We want to be part of building an enabling environment where national, regional, and local organisations deliver without us.
So, as we mark the International Day of People with Disabilities on 3 December, we know that our presence, impetus and resources are still necessary. And for as long as that is the case, Motivation will be there. But ultimately, we aspire to a world where we — and others like us —are not needed.
Blog and photo provided by Motivation
Originally posted on December 5th 2022
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