A wheelchair was given to a student of the Information Technology Training Program for People with Disabilities (ITTP). This program is implemented by CRS/Vietnam in collaboration with Van Lang University (in Ho Chi Minh City) and ESTIH in Hanoi.

Phan The Khuong was selected for this wheelchair donation.  He is 25 years old and is one of students participating in 6 month training course in graphic design (GD) at Van Lang university. He comes from a very poor family in Quang Binh province (over 1,200km away from Ho Chi Minh City). Khuong's parents are working as farmers and their income cannot afford to have all of their four children to go to school. Khuong is the oldest child in the family, he stopped school after grade 9 and just stayed at home until he heard about ITTP.

Teachers and staff at Van Lang University still remember one day in October 2011 when Khuong arrived at Van Lang. He spent his last penny to pay the motorbike taxi driver.  Now all his cost for tuition fees, living costs and accommodation are covered by CRS and Van Lang University.

Having the wheelchair will enhance his mobility and lead to educational and employment opportunities for him.  From April 2012, Khuong will have one to two months of internship at a company in Ho Chi Minh City, the wheelchair comes to him at a very good time - helping him get around his workplace.  Khuong hopes he can find a job very soon after graduation and have a good income to support his family. “When I have a job and save enough money, I will buy a new wheelchair to give to an ITTP student in the next school year who has had difficulties like me. That’s what I want to give back to my teachers and donors," Khuong said.

Brigida Amato knows what it's like to be poor and hungry and so she was an enthusiastic volunteer for the community vertical garden in the crowded Manila slum where she lives.  Sadly, while watering the amargoso vegetable vines (an iron rich gourd) that would help to feed the neighborhood kids, the makeshift step ladder she was perched on fell apart.  Brigida toppled to the ground, breaking her hip.  She needs surgery if she will walk again, but still has not managed to raise the charity patient's share for this. Meanwhile this wheelchair helps her to get around.  We’re grateful to The PAL (Philippine Airline) Foundation for partnering with us to provide free air shipment.

Mr. Suiya Somsrilla, a recipient from the Foundation for Children with Disabilities said, "This may be a second-hand chair in Japan, but it is a brand-new one for me.  I can feel the kindness of every volunteer of Wheelchairs of Hope who repair broken wheelchairs for underprivileged people with disabilities in Thailand."

"On behalf of Dionella and Armando Devera, I should like to thank you for the wonderful gift of a wheelchair.” So began a letter from The Philippine Self Help Foundation. They provide loans to poor families, but also partnered with us to deliver a wheelchair to a 61 year old recent stroke victim in their area, Armando. With the wheelchair, his wife, Dionella is now able to take him around the neighborhood every late afternoon for some fresh air. To learn more about The Philippine Self Help Foundation, go to: http://www.pshf.net/