The last week of feb I was invited to attend the 5 day INF Wheelchair Camp in Butwal, to help primarily in the assembly of chairs for each client specific requirements. I travelled the 6 hour journey on the INF truck with about 40 wheelchairs in the back to meet up with the 15 man strong INF camp team.The camp was assisted with a INF partner organisation PNL who are based in a Butwal and who invited the clients to attend.
Clients from over the Butwal region attended, the arrived in all forms of transport, from rickshaws, jeeps, oldwheel chairs, on peoples backs or by undertheir own steam slowly dragging themselves along.
People attended the next four days and were assessed by the INF physios and OT's. After assessment clients were prescribed a suitable chair or crutch depending on their needs. Being an engineer you tend not to have much exposure to people with disabilities. So for me an ‘eye opener’ and very much a new experience which will not be easily forgotten.
I spent much of the time at the Camp assisting the wheel chair technician to build and assemble chairs to the required sizes. The OT’s then made the final adjustments to each chair to ensure the client had the best seat position possible.
Clients were each given training and basic skills to allow them get the best from their new chair.
Followup visits are planned by both PNl and INF staff to ensure clients given the best support possible.
