Indonesian KIDS wheelchair, Training and Empowerment Project

Implementing Partner: United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) Wheels for Humanity with Hope Haven International Ministries; University of Gadjah Mada; Institute for Integration and Advocacy of Disabled People (Sasana Integrasi dan Advokasi Difabel [SIGAB]); Christian Foundation for Public Health (Yayasan Kristen untuk Kesehatan Umum [Yakkum]); Indonesian Society for the Care of Disabled Children (YPAC)

Funding Period: April 2009 - March 2012

Amount: $1,600,000

Purpose: Provide custom-fitted wheelchairs to children with disabilities, ages 3 to 14

Project Components

• Assemble and provide appropriate seating for more than 5,600 locally appropriate wheelchairs. Distribute them to Indonesian children with disabilities
• Complete a Train the Trainer program on proper wheelchair positioning and postural support for 10 employed physical therapists. Use successful training participants as trainers and in positions in centers for appropriate wheelchair distribution
• Employ and train qualified Indonesian individuals as a model for inclusion
• Develop a facility for wheelchair production and repair
• Inform wheelchair recipients of local resources available for people with disabilities
• Provide empowerment training to promote inclusion and universal human rights to each child receiving a wheelchair, their caregivers, staff members, and in-country partners
• Create a curriculum and provide advocacy training for 300 local community leaders, political officials, and business leaders on disability rights and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Create a self-sustaining program, involving the Indonesian government, commerce, universities and the Indonesian public

Through the UCP Wheels for Humanity’s (UCPWFH) Indonesian KIDS Wheelchair, Training and Empowerment project, USAID provides more than 5,600 custom-fitted wheelchairs to children with disabilities, ages 3 to 14 years old. In partnership with the University of Gadjah Mada, the project is developing a facility for the production of pediatric wheelchairs, staffed by men and women with disabilities. The project provides training on correct seating and positioning for Indonesian physical therapists working for various rehabilitation organizations that will ultimately become distribution centers. The project also brings resources and empowerment training to children and caregivers, and advocates to the local and federal government on disability rights.