Church Partners with Government and Charitable Organizations to Provide Wheelchairs

Latter-day Saint Charities (LDSC), the humanitarian arm of The Indian Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has partnered with Motivation India to provide wheelchairs, training, and support in various locations throughout India. 

During the most recent three-day session held in August in Alair, Telangana, the Motivation India team assembled, fit and delivered 30 appropriate wheelchairs, custom designed to meet the physical condition and environmental need of each recipient. They also trained wheelchair users, parents and care givers how to repair and maintain the equipment. 

Speaking at close of the session on 14 August, John Gutty, leader of Latter-day Saint congregations in Hyderabad, expressed his hope that the wheelchairs would make a positive difference in the lives of the recipients by fostering self-reliance. “Our wish,” he said, “is to improve educational and economic opportunities for people with physical disabilities through greater mobility.”

A similar training and distribution event was held in June in Amritsar, Punjab at the All India Pringalwara Charitable Society. Among those present at the closing ceremony were Dr. Shivdullar Singh Dhillon, Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar as well as Dr. Inderjit Kaur president, All India Pingalwara Charitable Society (AICPS). 

Eight-year-old Harjot was especially excited to receive his new customized wheelchair. Born with cerebral palsy and abandoned by his mother at age three and a half, he has lived at the residential campus of the AICPS in Amritsar ever since.

Harjot was forced by his disability to crawl, which limited his ability to care for himself. When he did receive a wheelchair, was too large and did not allow him to sit upright and balance to use his hands.  "Without this new wheelchair,” he explains, “I was unable to sit straight or move around and was always seeking help from someone. Now I can sit on my own, move on my own and live on my own.”

With proper support for his body and a lap board, Harjot now eats independently and can participate in group activities in school. When asked about his dreams for the future, he says with a smile, “I want to study well and play well.”

Speaking at the close of the three-day workshop in Amritsar, S.V. Sunil, Managing Director of LDSC, representing The Indian Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints thanked the partners who had made the training and wheelchair delivery possible. “We are all God’s children,” he said, “and its good when we can come together to serve those most in need.”

LDSC’s wheelchair program has served over 53,000 people in 40 countries across the world to improve mobility and health as well as educational and economic opportunities for people with physical disabilities. To learn more, click here.