Wheelchairs for Nigeria
Seattle Presbytery
Our Mission
Nigeria has more polio than anywhere in the world. Tens of thousands of children and adults spend their lives crawling on the ground. Tragically, no one is doing anything in a significant way about it. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been given by the Gates Foundation, Rotary International, and others for polio eradication, which is absolutely wonderful. But very little is being done for the victims.
Dr. Ron Rice, a retired Presbyterian pastor, and his Nigerian partner Ayuba Gufwan, who walks on his hands from polio, have built and donated over 13,500 wheelchairs to Nigeria's polio survivors. They have their own shop in Jos, Nigeria, with 49 employees, where they build these 3-wheeled, self-pedaled "tricycles" out of bicycle parts for $150. Five of the employees are handicapped themselves. This is by far the largest wheelchair ministry in all of Nigeria, a country that is half the population of the U.S.