Over the past few months we have been actively working with St. Vincent's Center for Handicapped Children to finish distributing our supply of All Terrain Wheelchairs (ATWs). We are pleased to share that over 90% of the chairs have been distributed to people with disabilities in and around Port-au-Prince!
We continue to offer maintenance and repairs for those already in circulation and are constantly re-evaluating the wheelchairs for areas of improvement on the next shipment. Earlier in 2012, our team discovered that the original tubes shipped with the chairs did not fare well in the intense Haitian heat and began researching alternatives.
After sending a variety of tubes to St. Vincent's to test in the climate, we identified ones that were more suitable to the extreme conditions. Orders were placed so that every wheelchair in circulation as well as those in storage would receive replacement tubes that would better hold air. Prior to shipment, each tube was tested by the manufacturer to ensure that there were no holes or defects.
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| Tubes are held under water to look for bubbles indicating leaks |
- to provide the best quality products to our partners instead of old or second-hand chairs often sent to Haiti
- to maximize the usefulness and longevity of the chairs by providing on-going maintenance
- to reduce our environmental impact on Haiti by keeping the chairs in use longer, thereby minimizing waste
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