Active Events News
Active Events

Josh’s Story

Meet Josh, a 6-year-old boy from Kenya.

He has Cerebral Palsy and has never been able to move around independently. Before receiving a wheelchair, Josh was unable to attend daycare and had difficulty engaging with other children as he couldn’t move around or sit up to play with them.

Our local team gave Josh his first wheelchair and he’s so happy! He can sit up comfortably, play with his toys using the tray attached to the chair, join daycare and socialise with other children.

Thanks to your support, we continue to bring smiles and opportunities to children like Josh, restoring their dignity, freedom and independence.

200 Wheelchairs Distributed in Kenya

An exciting update from Kenya!

Our local team has been working hard, assembling and distributing wheelchairs from our Wheelchair Assembly & Repair Centre in Nanyuki. At the end of September, they travelled to Kisii and Kitui counties for an outreach distribution. They provided 200 life-changing wheelchairs to locals with mobility disabilities.

If you would like to support our work in Kenya and be a part of this incredible, positive change, please donate today by clicking below.

Makena’s Story

Meet Makena, a 4-year-old girl from Kenya.

Makena has Cerebral Palsy, and therefore has never been able to move around independently.

Our local team gave Makena her first-ever wheelchair from our Wheelchair Assembly & Repair Centre in Nanyuki. Now that she has a wheelchair, it is much easier for Makena to get around. Her mother is planning to enrol her in school and go back to work to provide for herself and her daughter.

Anna’s Story

Meet Anna, one of the beneficiaries from Ghana. We met at our 2023 wheelchair distribution together with OTC Ghana and Kabaka Foundation.

Anna was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus when she was just 2 years old. Her dad has to work to provide for the family, so he often had to leave Anna at home, which was very isolating for her.

Before Walkabout’s donation, Anna had an old wheelchair that she had outgrown. Now that she has a brand-new custom-fitted paediatric chair, Anna can finally go to school, make new friends and be a lot more independent. Just look at that happy smile!

Walkabout in Ukraine: Artem’s Story

In February 2022, Vladimir Putin launched a military invasion of Ukraine. A devastating humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in the country.

In May 2022, we launched the #Walkabout4Ukraine campaign to send 100 wheelchairs to people with mobility disabilities in Ukraine. Thanks to the support of our community and a generous donor, we were able to send an emergency container to Lviv together with our partner, Momentum Wheels for Humanity, and play a pivotal role in helping a country in need.

Meet Artem, one of our wheelchair beneficiaries. Watch the video below to hear his story.

Walkabout Foundation Returns to Ghana!

In May 2023, the Walkabout team returned to Ghana for the first time since 2012, to distribute 175 custom-fitted wheelchairs to locals with mobility disabilities across the country.

We worked together with our local partners, Orthopaedic Training Centre (OTC) and Kabaka Foundation. This wheelchair distribution wouldn’t be possible without the support of Tullow Ghana Limited, and we are very grateful for their generosity.

It was an amazing week, filled with joy, happiness and gratitude. We would like to thank every single person who helped make this distribution happen. On behalf of all the beneficiaries whose lives were changed during this distribution, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

We would like to once again thank our donors and our local partners, for helping us change so many lives and restore dignity, freedom and independence to people with mobility disabilities in Ghana.

Walkabout’s Closet Treasure Sale 2023

Digital Monitoring and Evaluation Pilot Project

Two years ago, we launched our first-ever Digital Monitoring & Evaluation Pilot Project together with our partner, Hope Health Action, aiming to assess the impact of wheelchairs and tricycles on the quality of life of our beneficiaries. We worked together with a local team to co-design an online survey and follow up on past beneficiaries from northern Uganda, who received one of our wheelchairs or tricycles between 2017 and 2020. The project not only assessed the impact of our wheelchairs, but also identified any service gaps and need for repairs.

While measuring the impact of a wheelchair or trike on someone’s life, we looked at the quality of life and wellbeing, education, employment, social inclusion, independence, wheelchair and trike satisfaction and repairs. The data collected showed that wheelchairs and tricycles, as part of a holistic approach to disability-care provision, significantly contribute to improving the lives of people with mobility disabilities, despite the many challenges they still face. For example, based on this study, 90% of our beneficiaries said their quality of life had improved, with approximately 90% of adults and children saying they are more included in the community after receiving their wheelchair or tricycle.

There is still a lack of data across the international development sector that looks at the challenges faced by people with disabilities or the impact of providing assistive technology. We hope this report will shine a light on the importance of access to assistive technology, and the work that still needs to be done to improve the opportunities for people with mobility disabilities in developing countries.

Click below to read the full report.

Annual Report 2020-2021

200 wheelchairs for children in the Dominican Republic

In October 2022, the Walkabout Team returned to the Dominican Republic to provide 200 paediatric wheelchairs to children in need. For this distribution, we worked together with our partner,Centro de Atención Integral para la Discapacidad (CAID), and a group of volunteers from Team Canada Healing Hands. 

The majority of the kids we met never had a wheelchair before, and for them their new chair represented a world of new opportunities – to go to school, make new friends, and be independent for the very first time. On behalf of all the children whose lives were changed during this distribution, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. None of this would be possible without your support. 

To support our work in the Dominican Republic and provide mobility to kids in need, donate today by clicking below.

Walkabout supports new ground-breaking SCI Research study

We are so excited to announce that we are continuing our mission of finding a cure for paralysis by once again partnering with the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and funding their new Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) research study, “Functional Restoration after Spinal Cord Injury by Hebbian and Transcutaneous Spinal Stimulation”.

The study will test patients with Spinal Cord Injuries, using Hebbian and transcutaneous electrical stimulations combined with exercise training in order to promote the recovery of function.

Finding a cure for paralysis is at the core of Walkabout’s mission. We are committed to supporting ground-breaking SCI research efforts, and we are hopeful about the prospect of finding a cure in the near future.

If you would like to support this study and help us get one step closer to finding a cure for paralysis, please, donate today.


Feruzi’s Story

Feruzi lives in Kiangai and has Cerebral Palsy. Both his parents are very supportive and do their best to take care of him and each other. After receiving his wheelchair life became so much better for Feruzi and his parents! Now they can take him to church, and he is much more involved in his local community. His wheelchair makes it so much easier for his parents to move him around and he can play with his toys using the tray attached to the chair!