Economic Growth Pakistan Project #10682

Put people with disabilities in the driving seat!

by Network of Organizations Working for People with Disabilities, Pakistan

Put people with disabilities in the driving seat!

Project Report | Jul 24, 2015
IamKarachi & The Rickshaw Project

By Amin Amir Ali Andani | Project Officer

Imran on the top of Express Tribune's Karachi Page

Summary of Activities by The Rickshaw Project in the IamKarachi Campaign

The Rickshaw Project as part of the “IamKarachi Campaign” conducted 6 Disability Sensitization Sessions, Guerrilla Awareness Campaign at 3 prominent locations, and created 1000 Rickshaw Replicas. We also participated in the IamKarachi Talks, which brought us to the top of Express Tribune's Karachi Page.

Sensitization Sessions

Six sessions at different educational institutes of Karachi helped us to minimize the stereotype about people with disabilities. At the beginning of these sessions, students were given pre-sensitization forms and after the sessions were conducted, they were given post-sensitization forms to gauge their attitudinal changes.

Through these sessions, a major change in the understanding of the concept of inclusive society was observed, which increased to 68% from 39%
A major change was also observed about the perception that students with disabilities will have problems working with their colleagues, which dropped to 16% from 30%
Total Reach: Over 300 students

Guerrilla Awareness Campaign

Guerrilla Awareness Campaign was conducted around the theme, “Look at ME, Not my Disability”. The idea was to make people realize that whenever they see a person with disabilities, they should first focus on their abilities rather than making a pre-conceived notion about them. Click here to know how we executed this innovative idea!

Some empty wheelchairs were placed at three prominent places (Karachi University, Frere Hall, Karachi Grammar School) with a message at the backdrop, “Look at ME, Not my Disability”
As the public passing by these empty wheelchairs observed it, they automatically approached us with curiosity as we were having a stall just next to the empty wheelchairs
Initially, we told people about the reason why we have placed the empty wheelchairs, followed by few questions about disability etiquettes. The people with the right answers were given the replica of our rickshaws. The public were also encouraged to write their personal commitments to make an inclusive society for people with disabilities
Total Reach: Over 6000

IamKarachi Talks

Imran Abdullah from the Rickshaw Project was on the top of Express Tribune’s Karachi Page and there was a separate article in the newspaper based on Imran’s IamKarachi Talk at iACT
The Rickshaw Project was featured again in Express Tribune after a talk in Express Educational Expo. Ali Haider sang a song with the team on stage

Rickshaw Replicas

We received an overwhelming response for the rickshaw replicas that the people with disabilities designed for us. It was given to the people who participated in this campaign, so they could associate their relation with the Rickshaw Project for a longer period of time. 30 people with disabilities from different areas of Karachi were choosen to design these rickshaws for us. These rickshaws were distributed along with their short stories.

Beneficiary Quotes

Sensitization Session:

“The session was beyond our expectations, keep doing the good work”
“If I will be in a higher post of any organization, I will give equal chances to them (People with Disabilities)”

Guerrilla Awareness Campaign:

“Whenever I will see a person with disabilities, I will try to focus on their abilities first rather than their disabilities”
“I own a small IT business. I make this commitment that I will try to train at least one person with disabilities and will open his door towards employment”

Sensitization at Bahria University

Rickshaw Replica designed by PWDs

TRP team asking disability etiquette questions

Guerrilla Awareness Campaign at Karachi University

Ali Haider singing "Purani Jeans" for us

Permalink

Apr 24, 2015
R&D Workshop & IamKarachi Campaign

By Amin Amir Ali Andani | Project Officer

Imran training the team

Greetings from The Rickshaw Project!

The last few months have been quite amazing for our team. We have successfully executed the first phase of the IamKarachi Campaign and constructed our Research & Development Workshop.

IamKarachi Campaign
IamKarachi is a campaign that inculcates hope, pride and ownership in the citizens of Karachi to collectively strive for a peaceful city. As part of this city-wide campaign by like-minded Karachiites, The Rickshaw Project has:

Sensitized over 315 students with 6 sessions at Institute of Business Administration, Bahria University and Karachi University
Initiated an interactive social media and mobile campaign as part of our licensing efforts for people with disabilities (PWDs)
Conducted two Stakeholder Meetings with prominent government official from Transport & Mass Transit Department, Social Welfare Departments and major NGOs working on disability. Core reason for this was the provision of feedback and insights for developing a Policy Paper for Accessible Transportation and Driving Licensing for people with disabilities
Three of our team members participated in three separate live radio programs at FM100 for advocating the rights of PWDs

Research & Development Workshop

We have finalized the work on the construction of Research & Development Workshop. Along with the workshop, we have also constructed a space to park our retrofitted rickshaws. The Rickshaw Project has forged partnership with the Karigar Institute and their expert trainers will provide two months long intensive mechanical training to our project drivers. This training will formally commence from 4th May.

Although, we have finalized our work on the construction of workshop with the procurement of basic tools, but we are now looking for funds to fill our workshop with all the required machinery and tools for retrofitting vehicles. We request your support to help us fully equip the workshop for allowing us to freely consult people with disabilities and make more efficient retrofitted motorcycles, rickshaws, wheelchairs, and tri-cycles.

Thank you.

Best Regards,

Amin Amir Ali Andani
Project Officer
The Rickshaw Project
Network of Organizations Working with People with Disabilities,
Pakistan (NOWPDP)

Research & Development Workshop

Artwork for IamKarachi Campaign

Permalink

Feb 9, 2015
Progress on Rickshaw Prototype and R&D Workshop

By Amin Amir Ali Andani | Project Officer

Dear Contributor,

Your support to the Rickshaw Project has been a great source of motivation to us. We are immensely thankful to you for your time, knowledge, and monetary contributions.

I am really proud to inform you that we have completed the work on our first Rickshaw Prototype last month, which is currently on testing phase. When we shared the pictures of our first prototype to Dr. Christopher Kit Mitchell, who is the Former Head of Access and Mobility Division, British Transport Research Laboratory and a global authority on Paratransit, he said the following sentences with sheer excitement, "It looks like some very sensible, low cost, improvements to the basic vehicle, to make it much easier for passengers, particularly those with mobility impairments. Best wishes for continuing progress with this interesting project"

Not only this, we have also initiated our work on building the Research & Development Workshop which will provide consultancy to 100 persons with disabilities on building retrofitted vehicles. A retrofitted vehicle can completely transform the life of a person with disabilities by opening windows to myriad opportunities.

We still require your support to build more prototypes and equip our workshop with latest tools and equipments to make it as the first retrofitting resource centre of Pakistan.

We recently hired a new project driver named Vishal, who is a wheelchair user. When we asked why he wanted to work with us, he told, “My mother is old and she still has to work to support us. I wanted to prove the world that I am no more a burden. I will work hard to be a source of delight to my mother”. There are many Vishals in Pakistan that want to prove their abilities; support Vishal, Support the Rickshaw Project. Ask your friends and family to contribute in the Rickshaw Project, as well.

Thank you very much.

Amin Amir Andani
Project Officer
The Rickshaw Project
Network of Organizations Working with People with Disabilities,
Pakistan (NOWPDP)
Mobile:+92 345 3799661
Landline: +92 21 32294527-28
www.nowpdp.org
www.facebook.com/TheRickshawProject
A part, not apart

R&D Workshop under construction

Permalink

‹ 1 ... 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.