India wheelchair distribution gives gift of mobility
After receiving her new wheelchair, 12-year-old polio victim, Bibi, no longer crawls or is carried to school by her father.
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HYDERABAD, India - After stepping off the bus, Hussain eagerly walked toward one of Operation Blessing's free medical camps. In one arm, he carried a stick with a cluster of red and yellow balloons. In his other arm, he held his 12-year-old daughter Bibi.
Clothed in a little red dress, a smiling Bibi hugged her father's neck as her thin, paralyzed legs dangled by his side. She contracted polio at three months old, losing the use of her lower body.
Her father Hussain, who earns 30-50 rupees a day selling balloons, struggles to make money to feed his family much less purchase a wheelchair for his daughter.
"Before Operation Blessing gave us the wheelchair, I had to carry Bibi to and from school. On some days, she had to crawl to school," Hussain said. "My business also suffered because I often had to leave to care for her. It was hard."
In an effort to help those like Bibi, Operation Blessing launched the "Free Wheelchair Project" in February of this year. Operation Blessing launched the program by supplying over 100 wheelchairs to the disabled in the impoverished urban community of Peri.
Recipients met OBI staff with wide smiles and nods of thanks as they were lifted from the dusty ground and placed into their new wheelchairs.
"We are grateful to Operation Blessing for giving a brand new wheelchair to my daughter," Hussain said. "Now she can be like other normal children. She can leave the house more, play and study hard at school."
The first 30 wheelchair recipients await the arrival of Prime Minister Reddy.
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To inaugurate the project, a celebration was held at the home of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy who governs the 60 million people living in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
He greeted 30 of the wheelchair recipients and OBI staff, encouraging many - including Bibi - with his support of the partnership between his government and Operation Blessing.
OBI will distribute 550 more wheelchairs to meet the needs for those disabled in Peri and surrounding areas.
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