Wheelchairs Donated for Special Needs Children

In a culmination of coordination, cooperation and compassion, LDS Charities, (the humanitarian arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) delivered five wheelchairs to five special needs students at the Special Children Society of Ampang school in Kuala Lumpur on January 26th.

These five students had previously been measured and assessed for their wheelchair sizes and needs. Each child received a new wheelchair for him or her only, for use at home and at school.  These wheelchairs will improve their mobility and quality of life, and allow for further independence.

While LDS Charities donates many wheelchairs all over the world*, it is the responsibility of the in-country humanitarian missionaries to work through a “champion” NGO.  In Kuala Lumpur, LDS Charities has partnered with several Rotary Clubs, whose members take responsibility for assessing needs and placing the wheelchairs. The Rotary Clubs of Bandar Utama, Melawati, and Subang Jaya were represented at this event.

Raja Renno, past president of Rotary Club Melawati, has taken this project on as his own responsibility and spends long hours every week assessing and placing LDS Charities wheelchairs. Without his selfless efforts, distribution of these wheelchairs would cease.

A special ceremony was held in honor of the donation. One male student played several songs on the piano. Six of the students performed musical skits, and enthusiastically danced to recorded music. An older student sang several songs and “played” his homemade crafted guitar. He was a crowd pleaser!

There were several short speeches, including one from the KL Rotary District Governor. Then, the wheelchairs were placed in front of the audience, and the five children were assisted into their chairs. The youngest recipient grinned with delight as she was carefully placed in her own chair. One staff member, a teacher as well as a physical therapist, said she loves working with the special needs children. She said that non-special needs children easily learn concepts taught them, but special needs children require more creativity in teaching, and provide a greater challenge to teach in order to see advancement in the skills of each child. She loves what she does at this school and it shows in her treatment of the young children in her class.

The Principal said that children are trainable as they are taught skills and given structure at this school.  Sixty two students are enrolled at SCSOA. They range in age from five to thirty. They are physically and mentally disabled. Some have cerebral palsy while others deal with autism, and other disorders and disabilities. The younger children played games to build language skills. Others worked on eye-hand coordination and followed instructions to place little books in a teacher’s hand as she moved it into different positions. Others worked on physical and motor skills.

Some students attend public schools for a day or two each week and spend the remaining schools days at SCSOA. *One of the missions of LDS Charities is to “Improve mobility, health, and the educational and economic opportunities for people with physical disabilities. Working with local organizations, we improve the services of the physically disabled and provide manual wheelchairs or walking aids that are appropriate to individual needs and circumstances.”

According to the website www.ldscharities.org, in 2015 alone, wheelchairs were distributed in 40 different countries and served more than 52,000 people.