Accra, April 17 – Tullow Ghana Limited has partnered with WalkAbout Foundation, a non-governmental organization to execute a multi-faceted project to provide wheelchairs for some people with mobility disabilities in Ghana as part of efforts to enhance mobility their mobility.
Under Tullow Ghana’s Share Prosperity Initiative, the partnership will see the delivery of free custom-fitted wheelchairs to selected physically challenged students from the Western Region and the training of staff of the Orthopaedic Training Centre (OTC) in Nsawam in the Eastern Region of Ghana. An estimated 175 physically challenged individuals will receive the custom-fitted wheelchairs.
Already, 10 staff members of the OTC have received rigorous training in the World Health Organization’s approved Basic Wheelchair Service Training Programme to learn the theory and practice, as well as recent trends in the provision of orthopaedic healthcare.
The project is a collaborative and inclusive effort where Tullow Ghana will provide the funding and necessary national, regional, and local stakeholder support and alignment, with Walkabout Foundation providing expertise, wheelchairs, and training programme, and the OTC supporting with their beneficiary rehabilitation programme and physiotherapy expertise.
Announcing the partnership, Deputy Managing Director for Tullow Ghana, Mrs. Cynthia Lumor said “At Tullow, we believe Shared Prosperity through oil & gas can and should drive economic growth in developing economies. To promote sustainable operations, we look out for the welfare of members of our host communities, particularly students.
“This partnership will not only inure to the benefit of the direct recipients, but also increase local capacity in basic and rehabilitative orthopaedic service delivery. Beyond that, the life changing effects of this intervention will impact the families and caregivers of the direct beneficiaries. We know that this can translate into economic empowerment as well”.
A representative of WalkAbout Foundation, in their remark, lauded Tullow Ghana for the partnership and investment into the project. She said “This project is our way of contributing to the advancement of society and we thank Tullow Ghana for the support to provide the training and wheelchairs to the beneficiaries.
“Using the Wheels for Humanity’s calculator for wheelchair distributions, we estimate over 600 individuals will be positively impacted through this initiative. We are also grateful for OTC’s support with rehabilitation which brings the orthopaedic healthcare to full cycle”.
Following this announcement, Tullow Ghana and the WalkAbout Foundation will proceed with the project execution schedule, with actual distribution targeted for May 2023.