Amitabh Sharma, Features Coordinator

Lloyd Phang (seated) shares a joke with Oliver Jones (left), chairman of Jamaica Medical Foundation; Sezvin Hamilton (right), president of the Rotary Club of St Andrew and Dr Lloyd Eubank-Green after trying out his mobile wheelchair. Jones presented a cheque for the wheelchair to the Rotary Club at the club's meeting at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel recently. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Terrick Virgo tries to play a tune on the keyboard. He is taking a shot at learning something new, pep his spirits and possibly make a living. Virgo used to do tiling work and carpentry and tried his hand at landscaping, but fate had something else in store for him.

Virgo fell as he was trying to cut a tree and injured himself; the accident left him paralysed from the chest down. Virgo was bedridden for almost a year. It took extensive physiotherapy sessions to get some movement in his body. He said that his family's support was instrumental in his recovery. "My wife supported and assisted me during that time," he said.

"I cannot feel anything below my chest," said Virgo, sitting in his modest home, which he shares with 18 members of his family. "I am trying out different things to earn a living for myself."

Virgo is mobile now, thanks to the wheelchair he got from the Rotary Club of St Andrew last year. "I can move around," he said. "It keeps me fit and I am able use my body."

Growing for over four years now

The Rotary Club initiated the project of distributing free wheelchairs in association with the Wheelchair Foundation, USA, in 2002. "This relationship has been going and growing for over four years now," said Lloyd Eubank-Green, past president of the Rotary Club of St Andrew and president of the wheelchair committee.

The wheelchairs are distributed to individuals and institutions as the need arises. "The persons who benefit from the project have been and continue to be disabled persons, amputees, the elderly, police injured/disabled in the line of duty, hospitals, children's homes, the disabilities and paraplegic foundations," said Eubank-Green.

Napthalie Newton is a beneficiary of the programme. A resident of the Golden Age Home, he lost his left leg in a rock slide when he was 15 years old, but never found the need to use crutches for assistance. "I was a welder and worked in several places," said Newton. "I had the strength to move around."

"Life was easier then, now I want to pass my days in leisure and enjoy the fresh air," said Newton gazing. Newton and nine other residents of Cluster C of the Golden Age Home got wheelchairs last year.

"The new set of wheelchairs was given in December 2007," said Yvonne Thomas, health-care supervisor. "With the new wheelchairs, the persons can manoeuvre and move around easily."

Newton is happy to be on the move again, "The wheelchair has made me mobile," he said, "I can go around the place and meet up with people."

For Virgo, the wheelchair is his integral support system. "I can go around and search for something to do," he said. Virgo tries to eke out a living by selling goods. "I bought some packets of cigarettes and sold them," he said. But he would like to go back to carpentry. "I can create things like tables and cabinets," he said.

Since the start of the partnership with the Wheelchair Foundation four years ago, the Rotary Club of St Andrew distributed more than 1,000 wheelchairs in Jamaica by the end of 2007.

"The wheelchairs assist them in mobility; allow them to once again take part in active and gainful employment," said Eubank-Green. "As such, the wheelchair project touches people's lives and brings mobility to them with dignity."

Beneficiaries

The club also regularly follows up with the beneficiaries to replace worn out parts. "If a wheel is broken or a handlebar needs to be replaced, we supply that free of cost," said Eubank-Green.

"This year we want to source more sturdy wheelchairs ... given the road conditions in Jamaica ..."

Eubank-Green feels on 'top of the world' whenever he gives out wheelchairs to the needy. "I have my vested interest," he said. "The good that I do comes back to me and my family and I am very happy about it."

Rotary Club of St Andrew distributes free wheelchairs every last Wednesday of the month. For further details contact:

Lloyd Eubank-Green

PO Box 418, Kingston 19

Tel: (876) 925-0945

'Making a difference' is an initiative to highlight the work of service clubs and social organisations in Jamaica which are transforming communities across the country. We invite organisations which are working towards a cause to participate in this endeavour.

amitabh.sharma@gleanerjm.com