Edenvale Rotary helps a girl in need
"We strapped Thando in and were delighted to see her smile with happiness. She had a wheelchair again,"
The Edenvale Rotary Club assisted a young Tembisa girl after she lost her wheelchair to a fire.
Mr Garth Trumble, president of the Edenvale Rotary Club, and Ms Linda Clarke, secretary of the club, went to the Rotary Wheelchair Centre in Johannesburg to see if they could help the young girl.
“Tembisa resident Thando Mgwaduneka lost hers when her family’s home burnt down. Thando has a brain tumour and is unable to walk, so her grandmother, Innocentia Mgwaduneka, has had to carry her everywhere, ” said Mr Trumble.
Mr Dave Woodhouse, a member from the Northcliff Rotary Club, who runs the centre, had a look at Thando and said that there should be something available in her size.
According to Mr Tumble, Mr Woodhouse disappeared into the centre for 10 minutes and reappeared with a child-sized wheelchair.
“We strapped Thando in and were delighted to see her smile with happiness. She had a wheelchair again,” said Mr Trumble.
Mr Trumble said that the new wheelchair can be folded up neatly so that it can be transported.
According to Mr Trumble, Thando’s grandmother, Innocentia was extremely grateful.
Mr Trumble said that a donation was made for the wheelchair.
Mr Woodhouse said the wheelchair parts come from a Rotary club in England which collects parts and old wheelchairs from the National Health Service in the UK.
“Mr Woodhouse and his team repairs and refurbishes the wheelchairs for disabled people in South Africa,” said Mr Trumble.
“The Wheelchair Project is just one of many projects run by Rotary,” said Mr Trumble.
He said the Edenvale Rotary Club runs several projects which are aimed at improving the lot of the needy in our community.
To find out more about Rotary or Edenvale Rotary Club, contact Ms Clarke on 082 929 5142 or linda@lindaclarke.co.za.
