21 August 2018
A request for the possibly supply of free wheel chairs (that needs the wholehearted support of the Solomon Islands Government (MOHMS), NRH, and the kind intervention of the United States Government)
I am writing to you with a copy of my letter I sent a few days ago to a Mission in the United States that is known, internationally, for its charitable and humanitarian assistance to providing free wheel chairs to those in need in the developing world.
I am also copying you the letter I have received in reply from the US based Mission.
It is my earnest plea that the Solomon Islands Government, through the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health and Medical Services and, possibly, with the aid of the United States Government, try to pursue the leads that have been offered to me as I personally do not have the resources, other than by way of personal appeals, to pursue and hopefully gain the much needed mobility equipment that is available from charity organizations in the United States.
I believe that a concerted appeal from all those committed to aiding medical services in the Solomon Islands, development partners, the Association for the Persons with Disabilities and the US Consular Agent in Honiara, would significantly have a greater influence in acquiring free wheel chairs that I might possibly have, even if my partner charity in New Zealand, ‘Take My Hands,’ could be of any assistance.
Below is my original letter and, below the rather encouraging reply from the Free wheel chair Mission.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
www.solomonislandsinfocus.com
Free wheel chair Mission
USA.
Dear Sir/Madam
“As a former serving Commissioner of Police in the Solomon Islands I am acutely aware of the desperate need for wheel chairs for patients at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) in Honiara.
“The main cause of death in the Solomons is diabetes and the main cause of amputations, especially lower limbs.
“Currently, there are many diabetic patients in the surgical ward at the hospital who have had their legs amputated and cannot be removed from their beds because the struggling hospital is desperately in need of wheel chairs to move the patients when needing the toilet as an example.
“Solomon Islands is a developing country in the Pacific with a poor economy, very high population growth and high unemployment. More than 80 percent of the people live in isolated and vastly scattered rural communities where they try to make a living from their basic food crops and increasingly devoid of proper health facilities as a consequence of the loss of rural health clinics due to structural damage occasioned by age and white ant infestation.
“In one such rural community in Isabel province there are more than 15,000 people without adequate health provisions locally and consequently need to travel hundreds of miles by sea, usually in small boats or canoes, to get medical aid.
In giving you a true picture of prevailing health concerns, I try to do whatever I can to bring attention to the plight of the people and use the medium of my personal charity website.
- http://www.solomonislandsinfocus.com
“Knowing of the extensive charity work undertaken by your Mission in the USA to provide free wheel chairs to those in need in developing countries, I would, request that you try to help the Solomon Islands initially with 50 wheel chairs for the NRH and, if at all possible, try to help out on an ongoing basis as there is, and always will be, a growing demand for mobility aids such as wheel chairs.
“Should you consider helping such a worthy cause and perhaps need more evidence of conditions at the NRH then please feel free to write to me and I will put you in touch with the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health and Medical Services.
“Thank you, sincerely, for considering this appeal to your Mission.
“Frank Short.
“www.solomonislandsinfocus.com”
Hello Frank,
Thank you for writing to us, I hope we can help you in some way.
Unfortunately, Free Wheelchair Mission does not have a distribution partner in the Solomon Islands.
However, there may be other humanitarian nonprofits that may provide services. I suggest doing online research with these larger NGOs based in the USA:
Wheels for Humanity: www.ucpwheels.org
Joni and Friends (Wheels for the World): www.joniandfriends.org
Giving Children Hope (Global Operation & Development): www.givingchildrenhope.org
World Vision International: www.wvi.org
Americares: www.americares.org
American Wheelchair Foundation: amwheelchair.org
We wish you success in finding assistance,
Olivia Alvarez
21 August 2018
