5-year-old boy gets a wheelchair

Highlands, Normal
Source:

The National – Wednesday, February 16, 2011

CHARLIE Wama may not be able to walk but he sure can move around now, thanks to the Foundation for Rural Development.
Charlie, 5, who has been paralysed since birth, was presented with a wheelchair, something his parents have longed to buy.
He was among 20 other disable people who received free wheelchairs last Friday from executive director Andrea Puu at Kunai Hotel in Banz, Western Highlands.
Charlie is the only child of Charlie and Paula Wama from the Mitiwaiti area in the Dei district, Western Highlands.
He was a week old when his parents noticed that he could not move his hands like other babies and later could not sit up.
Their visits to the Mt Hagen General Hospital and Kudjip Nazarene Hospital were fruitless because no medical diagnosis of Charlie’s condition was given and that became a concern.
Wama said they have been thinking of purchasing a wheelchair for him to use in the future but did not have the funds to do so and thanked the group for helping with the donation of the new wheel chair.
With the wheelchair now for Charlie, Wama’s  next plan was to seek medical treatment for problems affecting his son’s excretory system. 
Wama said they (he and his wife) did not have enough funds and were seeking assistance from relatives and friends to help their son.
Anyone wanting to help can contact Wama on 730035200.
Puu also said  the wheelchairs weredonated by the USA Free Wheelchair mission.
He said 100 of 600 wheelchairs had already been donated to people in Western Highlands.