Development Ratings

Motivation-provided wheelchairs and services have benefited 60,000 wheelchair users in 34 different countries since 1991. Since 2005, nearly 4,500 Worldmade wheelchairs have been shipped, averaging 1,500 per year.

Motivation developed the Wheelchair Technologists Training Course with the Tanzanian Orthopaedic Training Centre (TATCOT). The course covers a wide range of wheelchair services. Now independent of Motivation, 50 students have graduated from 11 African countries since 2000 (9 graduates in 2007). The Worldmade Fit for Life training course, for basic assembly and fitting of wheelchairs for users, graduated 132 trainees since 2005. The requested course for the ICRC to train 80 physical rehabilitation field staff has just been carried out. A wheelchair and postural support training course has graduated 80 students over the past two years.

Peer group training camps held by Motivation since 1995 have had over 2,300 participants. In Sri Lanka, the Access for All programme led to the introduction of a legal requirement for all new public buildings to have disabled access. There has been a call for all Asian Tsunami-damaged buildings to be rebuilt with disabled access as well. Of the disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) included under Motivation’s development programme, there have been nearly 4,000 direct beneficiaries, and more than 12,000 indirect ones (family members, trained nurses, etc.) since 2004. The DPO, DWSO of Zimbabwe, regularly visits 12 hospitals, supports 23 small business projects, has established 16 school disability clubs and has formed a wheelchair tennis organisation. DWSO has grown from 284 members in 2004 to 1,948 in 2007. DPO QUAPAZ of Zimbabwe saw 63 participants attend self-help project workshops in 2006. In Tanzania, 16 KASI DPO members were trained in 2006 in batik and tie-dye skills to set up home-based businesses. DPO SIAU of Uganda now has 250 members, built up from just the founding members in 2004.

54 job fairs, ‘job seeking and keeping’ workshops, and training & work placement events have been held since 2003. As a result, 285 disabled people found employment and 573 were trained in job seeking and retention skills. 15 disabled women graduated from a Marks & Starts programme in Sri Lanka in 2006, and a total of 298 are currently in employment with M&S. A further 300 are currently being trained. 50 people have been trained in advocacy work, and 300 government employees have benefited from consultancy work on disability.

The number of people provided with services by each Motivation programme trainee is estimated at 10 per month. The indirect beneficiaries’ calculation takes account of family members, including freed-up carers, people trained to provide services, and those who have found employment through courses. The relatively high cost reflects the individual ~$150 cost of the wheelchairs and the manpower intensive nature of training.