South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal’s Disabled Union on Wednesday received wheelchairs from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The chairperson of the union, Peter Majok, told Radio Tamazuj that the equipment was donated to them at the state ministry of gender, child, and social development premises.
“It is a very good day for the people with disabilities to receive wheelchairs at the ministry of gender, child and social development headquarters in Aweil. The support is done through (ICRC) regional office in Wau in collaboration with the state ministry,” he said.
Majok says most of those who received wheelchairs on Wednesday have never had any equipment to facilitate their movement.
He called on the government and other partners to continue supporting the community of persons with disabilities in Aweil.
“God has protected us until we received our wheelchairs today. We are so happy and may God bless the donors because I have spent 25 years crawling down,” Peter Garang Atak, a PWD said in a tweet.
Another beneficiary, Kuol Bukic thanked the donors and decried discrimination against persons living with disabilities.
“I love the donors and I thank them a lot because I got my new wheelchair,” he said. “Segregation is not allowed nowadays whether you are disabled or fit because all people are the same, and a disabled person can go anywhere with his/her wheelchair.”