International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Crossroads marked the International Day of Persons with an extraordinary day.
On December 3, 2009 Crossroads marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities with old friends and new. It was an extraordinary day. ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. had sponsored the purchase of 34 wheelchairs and walking frames. Local pharmaceutical company Europharma had also generously contributed.
On the morning of the 3rd, we stacked the boxes in the hall, finalised the decorations and, importantly, preparations for tea. By 10:30am all was in order. Around 11 am, people began to gather; children, teenagers, the elderly, people with disabilities, relatives. Speeches were made and we began to distribute the wheelchairs and mobility aids. There were few dry eyes in the hall.
Some recipients could not make the event. One of these was an 86 year old lady. Our team delivered her wheelchair in person later that week. In her 80th year old she was paralysed. Impoverished, she and her family had no money to buy a wheelchair. As a result she had been confined to the walls of her apartment for six years till the day she received the gift of a wheelchair.
Thank you to ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc and Europharma who made this possible.
