THE BAMBOO WHEELCHAIR STORY
Through a discussion with our good friend and CEO of Classroom Of Hope (www.classroomofhope.org), Duncan Ward, we learnt of an unfortunate situation in North Lombok where a 12-year-old boy, Nasrudin had been left without a wheelchair after the recent earthquakes did destroy it. As this poor boy sadly had to drag himself on the ground to get to school every day, we felt in our hearts that we had to find a solution for him.
After brainstorming we chose to design and build a bamboo all terrain wheelchair using locally sourced bamboo and mountain-bike bicycle wheels which would be easy to source and repair in remote areas.
During this period we discovered that is not only Nasrudin who is struggling with the same issue, but there are loads of kids in Indonesia who are facing the difficulties of being disabled every day without any wheelchair. So we decided to make a bigger plan and with your kind help we would like to help all the Indonesian kids and adults who are in the same need in remote villages where the steep and rough terrain is not suitable for standard wheelchairs.
THE BUILD
Having followed the amazing work of the East Bali Bamboo Bikes team, we decided to reach out to David who invited us for a meeting. We met with David and Deni Nugraha and explained our vision and dream, the potential for bamboo all terrain wheelchairs and both of them were extremely excited and said they would look into this straight away.
A lot of research and planning went into this project in terms of realizing that each user’s individual physical characteristics and needs have to be taken into consideration when building a custom wheelchair in order to help improve the user’s independence, sense of participation and quality of life. Changes in wheelchair configuration can affect propulsion forces, range of motion of the upper limb joints, rolling resistance and system stability. Ultimately, all these aspects determine how easy or difficult it is to propel a wheelchair in everyday mobility. System stability and mobility performance are two inter-related variables; improving one has an impact on the other so we had to find a balance between stability and performance when designing the size of the chair, seat angel and dimensions, rear wheel’s vertical and horizontal position, wheel size and camber etc. to make it suitable for a wide range of users.
David’s team headed to the field to select and harvest the bamboo for the complex wheelchair frame and the laminated seat, backrest, foot rest and rear basket from their bamboo plantations on Mount Agung slopes in Ban village; and the bamboo wheelchair build began. Deni went around Denpasar to source materials and non-aluminium components, the two front and single central rear stabiliser wheel being the hardest to locate, but he struck ‘gold’ and got the last in stock from two different bicycle shops – whew!
The most important components are those that Deni designs, with meticulous to-scale sketches and then has them made in Bandung from aircraft grade aluminium, all of which are individually handmade to precise dimensions!
Only a few weeks later the chair was fully assembled, hand finished and protected with environmentally friendly lacquer and sealant, rigorous quality control checked, “road tested” and revealed to Bali Beach Wheels at the East Bali Poverty Project (EBPP) Denpasar office! We were all super proud of this, our most beautiful hand-built bamboo creation to date! And looking forward to getting on with the next ones!”
This was the birth of the first of its kind, all terrain bamboo wheelchair in South East Asia, perhaps even the world.
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
We soon started to hear of many more stories where disabled children and adults have been neglected due to a lack of funding. These people have sadly never had the basic necessities such as a wheelchair and so, remain immobile and isolated at home in their villages. Since a standard wheelchair is not suitable for the rough and steep terrain of the remote villages in and around Indonesia, and because there is a known lack of supply of metal wheelchairs, we have made it our mission to build and supply bamboo wheelchairs to all those in need.
Bali Beach Wheels and Eco Living Bali have already funded the build of the first three bamboo wheelchairs: the prototype (currently on display in the Eco Living Bali shop in Kerobokan), the wheelchair for the 12-year-old boy in North Lombok (who initially propelled this vision), as well as a custom wheelchair for a 15-year-old boy named Macika, who is the son of one of the EBBB craftsmen from Ban Village who builds these bamboo all terrain wheelchairs.
Through our contacts and partners, we have established a list of all those in need in the surrounding region, and we now urgently require funding to build more bamboo all terrain wheelchairs.
We are happy to receive any amount even as tiny as 10 dollars and every sponsor will receive a certificate and photos of the wheelchair made and delivered to the individual in need. For those who sponsor the full cost of an entire wheelchair, we will also place your name and/or logo on a bamboo plaque on the chair (as per picture below). With your permission and as a recognition of your kindness and generosity, we would also like to place your name on our websites along with the photos of the wheelchair delivery.