Panga LaWende – the wheelchair workshop

Panga LaWende – the wheelchair workshop

This facility was opened on 02.01.99 and is located on the site of the AMPO orphanage for boys. Those with physical handicaps can repair their wheelchairs for a modest fee under the expert supervision of Edouard Norgho (he uses a wheelchair himself and is a former paralympic champion of Burkina Faso) and Issouf, his assistant. There are also specific donations for the wheelchair project. The wheelchairs are made in cooperation with the welding shop as part of the street kids project. In 2008, 143 people in need were able to obtain such a wheelchair, those who otherwise would never have been able to afford it. Upon written application, the need of the potential user is assessed. Waiting periods depend on the number of specific donations. In Burkina Faso the handicapped often live only inside their compound and are moved about on wheelbarrows. A wheelchair is a major tool towards an independent future. Edouard is aware of this and his dazzling smile reaches far beyond the borders of his country until he touches the very hearts of the donors, each time he hands over another wheelchair. The monthly budget for the workshop is covered from the funds of the general Sahel e.V. donations.

Katrin Rohde in the wheelchair workshop

Handicap Mobile – the mobile wheelchair workshop

Since more and more people became aware of the AMPO wheelchair workshop, a mobile workshop was founded in January 2008. There was an increasing number of enquiries for wheelchairs from the surrounding villages, whereupon Edouard together with a former AMPO driver now visits villages within a 170 km radius of Ouagadougou in the former „Cinemobil“ van. They assess the needs of the handicapped and try to improve their situation. In many cases the disadvantaged in the villages are much worse off than those in the city, since they have to cope with greater distances to accomplish their tasks. The mobile workshop provides mainly physically challenged children with a wheelchair, or provides assistance to repair existing wheelchairs in the usual way, offering spare parts at 25% of the market price. Each child who is given an AMPO wheelchair is also provided with free schooling. The project is scheduled to run until February 2010 with three deployments per month. During these deployments the AMPO workshop remains open managed by Issouf, Edouard’s assistant. The „Bingo-Projektförderung“ scheme covers the monthly budget of Handicap Mobile.

Wend la Naaba – workshop for wooden toys

Wend la Naaba – workshop for wooden toys

This workshop is located on the site of the AMPO orphanage for boys and provides the opportunity for eight physically handicapped young people to make wooden toys, under the supervision of trainer Seni Sawadogo, himself handicapped. These are then sold in the AMPO shop and in Germany. The advantage for the young people is the training, apart from which they are fed and taken care of in case of illness. The project is financed by the sale of the products they make.