Wheelchair Fitting and Provisioning Training

Finally the time arrived for our wheelchairs training and distribution!! E/S Reese arrived from Tbilisi, Georgia on Monday evening and we spent a nice day with them Tuesday touring the city. Wednesday the rest of the team arrived at various times and settled into their hotel and caught up on some sleep. Meanwhile, the Reese's and Maxwell's went with our NGO to the wheelchair storage place and loaded up the trucks with the wheelchairs and other items that would be used for the training that began on Thursday morning. The wheelchair order was not correct from Indonesia (2/3 of the wheelchairs had no cushions) and so we had to make do without some of the sizes. This was a problem by the time we got to Friday and people were being fitted for the sizes we did not have - but I am getting ahead of the story.

Thursday morning began with our taxi showing up late and then getting stuck in traffic so we arrived at the training 30 minutes later than we had planned. It turned out not to matter since the trainees showed up about an hour late (sort of on time for Kazakhs). We finally got started with a short opening ceremony to introduce the team and a government guy who showed up. Overall, the training went very well. People were engaged in the process and were very appreciative of the training. The training team from Utah worked very hard and were very friendly with the locals. Thursday we were supposed to give away 12-15 wheelchairs but only 10 people showed up to get their wheelchair. Of course, some folks came that were not on the list and just expected to ride away in a wheelchair or take one for a friend. Apparently that is how wheelchairs were distributed in the past, but not this time.

We held two classes on both days with each class being about 2/3 of a day long. One class was to teach how to assess a potential recipient for the right wheelchair of the right size and teach them how to be safe in the chair. The other class was to teach how to assemble, repair, and use a wheelchair. The trainees were divided into two groups and alternated classes so that each person 'graduated' from both classes.

Here are some pictures from the classes ....

 Opening ceremony with Eric, myself, Mira (one of the translators), and Kamka (our NGO Director)

 Day 1 Fitting and Assessment class led by Jeff and Nylin (not in picture) with Mira and Alia as translators.

 Day 1 Provisioning class led by Eric and Kevin with Zhanara and Alina as translators.

 First the provisioning class assembled some standard outdoor wheelchairs which were then taken to the other class for those folks to sit in to get a feel for what it is like to be wheelchair bound (see below).

 Second the provisioning class assembled the RoughRider wheelchairs which are for rough terrain - even the sidewalks here are rough terrain for a wheelchair.

Then the provisioning class went outside to learn some mobility skills - essentially find out how difficult it is to maneuver a wheelchair over curbs etc.

The next day folks switched classes and the process started over again. At the end of each day there was a clinic where invited people came to be used as test cases for the class attendees to practice their new skills on someone who actually needs a wheelchair.

Here are some pictures of those who received wheelchairs or walkers over the two days ...

 Nylin with our first recipient and his family.

 Some of the trainees getting a wheelchair ready for a lady that already had a wheelchair but it was old and not useful for outside.

 Part of the process is for the recipient to fill out a diagnosis form and then be interviewed to determine the best style of wheelchair in the right size.

 There are many adjustments to be made to ensure the best fit and comfort for the recipient. Elder Reese attended the provisioning class and is making final adjustments for this lady.

This mother was very happy to get a wheelchair that would enable her to take her son outside.

 Assessing her ability to control her body movement and self correct her posture.

 Jeff and Ilene Thalman with a mother and daughter. The mother attended the classes.

 Kevin, Jeff, and Nurbek (one of our translators) with a mother who attended the classes and her son.

 This man came in walking with only a cane and we wondered why he wanted a wheelchair. Turned out that both his legs are artificial.

 Sweet little girl with her mother and the trainee that helped them.

 

 This little girl was too small for our wheelchairs but her parents were excited to get her a child size walker so she can continue her walking therapy. They are from Azerbaijan.

 Sisters!

Husband and wife.

 We held a press conference as part of the second day with our Area Welfare Manager, the team, church Public Affairs rep., our NGO partner, and a representative of the Dept. of Social Protection.

 Viviane and I doing our 'speech' at the press conference with Alina translating for us.

The final event was the presentation of certificates to all the trainees for both classes.

It was a great two days and kept us very busy. Now we will work with the NGO partner to distribute the rest of the wheelchairs and collect the information about those who receive the wheelchairs. It has taken a year to get to this point for this project. When our replacements arrive, they will need to begin the next wheelchair project for another area of the country.