Kenya
When we started working in Kenya in 2014, very little was being done for people with disabilities. The lack of local knowledge and resources meant that very few people had access to the wheelchairs they badly needed, and the absence of rehabilitation services meant that even people who could have had a chance at mobility were left immobile and isolated within their communities.
There was also a serious lack of job opportunities for wheelchair users, in part due to the stigma surrounding disability in this area.
In 2018, we opened our first-ever Wheelchair Assembly and Repair Centre in Nanyuki, Kenya after working with our partner United Disabled Persons of Laikipia successfully for over five years. In just two years, our centre has become the leading wheelchair provider in Kenya. Today, we have a growing waiting list of 2000 adults and 900 children in need of a wheelchair, and we receive new requests every day.
By receiving chairs unassembled and assembling them locally, we are able to save considerable costs on shipping into Kenya and enable our product offering to grow and to adapt to changing needs and innovations in wheelchairs. The money we save allows us to pay the salaries of our 17 local staff members. Six of our full-time employees are wheelchair users themselves and our past beneficiaries, whose example helps our recipients adapt to their new chair and reduces the stigma attached to disability in the community.
| Population | 47,615,739 |
|---|---|
| % living below poverty line | 43.4 |
| Year started working | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Number of distributions | 25 |
| Lives impacted
This number is based on UCP Wheels for Humanity’s multiplier, which takes the birth rate in each country and estimates that one wheelchair impacts the beneficiaries life in full, 0.75% of his or her primary caregiver’s life and 0.25% of the surrounding family members’ (siblings) lives. | 20,745 |
| Number of chairs distributed | 7,655 |
| Rehabilitation Centre | 1 |
| Wheelchair Assembly line | 1 |
Partners
Media
Makena’s Story
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/in News, Stories /by Maria Pyatakova
Feruzi’s Story
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/in News, Stories /by Josephine Caldwell
Almasi’s Story
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/in News, Stories /by Josephine Caldwell
Gacoki’s Story
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/in Stories /by Josephine Caldwell
Walkabout Wheelchair Centre – New Beginnings
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/in Films /by Yana
Young Volunteers in Kenya
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/in Stories /by Yana
In July 2018, the Walkabout Team visited our Wheelchair Assembly and Daycare Centre in Nanyuki, Kenya, accompanied by four very special, young volunteers: Ines, Massimo, Giovanni and Greg. Driven by their energy and motivation, we distributed 60 life-changing paediatric wheelchairs. The young team also dedicated 2 days to painting the classroom walls in our Daycare […]
The Walkabout Wheelchair Centre, Kenya
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/in Films, News /by Tiago Silva
Partnership with Free Wheelchair Mission
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/in News /by Walkabout Foundation
In April 2018, we travelled to Kenya to receive a very special container of wheelchairs. This was our first shipment of chairs from Free Wheelchair Mission (FWM), a US-based charity that designs and manufactures high quality, rough-terrain chairs, with whom we are now proud to be working in partnership. By combining their wheelchair supply with […]
Arielle’s story
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/in Films /by Tiago Silva
Kevin’s story
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/in Stories /by Tiago Silva
Kevin is 5 years old and lives with his mother Jane and younger brother in Nanyuki. He has cerebral palsy, which has meant that he has never been able to walk. Before he started attending the Walkabout Daycare & Support Centre, Kevin spent most of his time at home, not able to socialise with other […]
Arielle’s story
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/in Stories /by Tiago Silva
Walkabout Ambassador Arielle Rausin, a 21-year-old Team USA Paralympic athlete from Florida, joined us in Kenya in 2017, after raising enough money for 10 wheelchairs in the 2017 London Marathon. All the children on the distribution loved talking to Arielle about her racing, and she taught them how to push and transfer into their […]
Joseph’s Story
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/in Films, Stories /by Tiago Silva
Joseph is 6 years old and lives with his father Samuel, mother Julia, and baby sister Eunice. Samuel is a self-trained plumber, but the work is temporary and he is often without a job. Since Julia is forced to spend all day at home looking after Joseph and Eunice, she is unable to work, and […]
Walkabout distributes 1000th chair in Kenya!
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/in News /by Tiago Silva
In July 2017, we visited Laikipia County, Kenya, where we distributed 228 paediatric chairs alongside our amazing local partner, UDPL. This means that we have now distributed over 1,000 wheelchairs in Kenya, reaching 21 out of the 47 counties, and impacting an estimated 3,000 lives! When we began distributing chairs with UDPL back in 2014, […]
First Ever Walkabout Daycare and Support Centre
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/in Films /by Tiago Silva
Patrick’s Story
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/in Stories /by Tiago Silva
At 6 months old, Patrick contracted meningitis. He has been paralysed ever since. Maralal, where he lives, is a small town in a very rural part of Kenya; access to education is limited here and in surrounding regions, and the prevailing attitude towards disability is once of prejudice and superstition. When we met Patrick at […]
Anne & Given’s Story
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/in Stories /by Tiago Silva
Anne lives in rural Kenya, and was an unmarried girl of 22 when she gave birth to her first son. There were substantial problems at the birth, and after 5 days in intensive care the doctors told Anne that her son had little chance of surviving. That day she named him ‘God Given’ because, as […]
Lulu’s journey from El Camino to Kenya
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/in News /by Tiago Silva
In December 2016, following our trip to Uganda, Team Walkabout travelled straight to Kenya, where we distributed 230 wheelchairs with our longstanding partner, United Disabled People of Laikipia. This distribution was particularly special as we were accompanied by one superstar volunteer, Lulu Dillon, pictured above. Last year, Lulu embarked on a gruelling 500km trek across […]
Meet our Walkabout Heroes
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/in Films /by Tiago Silva
Charity’s story
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/in Films /by Tiago Silva
Kenya 2016 film
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/in Films /by Tiago Silva
Kenya 2016
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/in News /by Tiago Silva
In June 2016, the Walkabout team headed back to Kenya for our third distribution at the United Disabled People of Laikipia (UDPL) clinic in the town of Nanyuki, located at the foothills of Mount Kenya. We distributed 230 wheelchairs (an assortment of Tough Riders, paediatric chairs and tricycles) and, as always, we were struck by […]
Kenya 2015
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/in News /by Tiago Silva
In June 2015 Walkabout Foundation travelled back to the United Disabled Persons of Laikipia (UDPL) clinic in Nanyuki, Kenya, to distribute a further 200 wheelchairs. This year we also funded our first ever World Health Organisation Wheelchair Provision Training run by our supplier and partner, Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK). During the […]
Charity’s story
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/in Stories /by Tiago Silva
Charity Nana (yes, her first name is Charity!) experienced a lifetime of isolation and continually struggled to gain acceptance in her community. Since receiving one of our ToughRider wheelchairs in 2014, she has devoted her life to supporting the disabled. She visits parents and guardians of children with disabilities, bringing practical help, encouragement and fresh […]
Kenya 2014 film
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/in Films /by Tiago Silva
Kenya 2014
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/in News /by Tiago Silva
Team Walkabout were in Kenya for the first time in January 2014. Stefanie and Bryony flew out to Nanyuki for a full five day distribution alongside the United Disabled Persons of Laikipia (UDPL) during which 200 wheelchairs were fitted. As part of the official inauguration of their brand new disability centre, various members of the […]