WHEELCHAIRS

LDS Charities brought in a container of wheelchairs and has partnered with the Ministry of Health and Motivation Australia. The container held a total of 267 wheelchairs, and walking aids of different kinds including Active wheelchairs, All Terrain wheelchairs, and RoughRiders. The walking aids include canes, crutches, and walkers for adults and children.

Elder Tukuafu and Dr Reynold 'Ofanoa

The equipment was handed over to the Physiotherapy Department of Vaiola Hospital.

Ray Mines, Saia, ____, Solo Pau'uvale, Sione

All donations from the last container provided by LDS Charities had been given away and the island has been without new wheelchairs for a few months. There is a backlog of requests. Physical Therapy Department will be busy distributing the chairs to those on the list.

With the number of people with diabetes on the rise, amputations unfortunately also are a "way of life" for many. It is reported 2 amputations a day are performed at Vaiola Hospital, mostly due to complications from diabetes.

Motivation Australia's Tonga Rehabilitation and Mobility (TRaM) project is a partnership between Motivation Australia and Ministry of Health in Tonga, with wheelchair donation by LDS Charities. The Ministry of Health would like to increase access to rehabilitation and mobility device services for people with disabilities, non-communicable diseases and the frail aged.


Ray Mines (TRaM project manager) explains "secondary complications of noncommunicable diseases such as stroke and amputation are impacting large numbers of Tongans and their families. The technical parts of the TRaM project are about renovating and equipping new facilities, training Tongan personnel and establishing the rehabilitation, wheelchair and prosthetic limb service. However, for me, our work is as much about creating hope that after a stroke or an amputation, people’s lives are not over. If the service can provide people with the support and devices they need to stay healthy and mobile - and the hope that life isn’t over - then together, we can really change people’s lives.


Wheelchair recipient Sione Fetu'u participated in our Beat Diabetes Runs in December 2017. He was pushed by Solomone (Solo) Pau'uvale. Sione has stated "the wheelchair allows me to get out in the community." Without his chair, Sione would only be in his home. We often see him when we are out shopping in Nuku'alofa.

We are  happy to be a part of bringing mobility to those in need here in Tonga. Wheelchairs make a huge impact in their lives.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 

                                                                       James 2:14-17