Put people with disabilities in the driving seat!

Dear donors, supporters and friends,

Here is a quick update on what we've been working on since our last update - 

1. We hired an additional 5 crew-members and began training on the 1st of November.

2. All new recruits have obtained a learning license, and road training has begun.

3. We have refurbished and retrofitted one additional rickshaw; we aim to retrofit/refurbish at least 2 more over the next month.

4. We have our very first client who has booked our first rickshaw weekday mornings and evenings. We are working on getting more orders/bookings for our functional rickshaw so we can begin testing our financial model.

5. We finally painted and decorated the first rickshaw; picture attached!

6. The crew has been participating in the disability sensitization training and school outreach programmes; they have been involved in the design of the programmes and will be an integral part of the implementation of these programmes.

As always, feel free to email me with questions, concerns, suggestions and ideas!

Thank you,

Reem 

Dear family, friends, and supporters,

I would like to share with you what the team and I have been working on since our last report.

Even though we haven't raised all of our fundraising goal of USD 10,000, we decided to begin a slow roll-out using a portion of the funds raised on GlobalGiving. So, we began the refurbishment and retrofitting of three rickshaws, and have hired 6 crew members who joined our team on the 1st of November!

Syed Ali, Muhammad Rauf, Siraj, Muhammad Ali, Pervaiz, and Muhammad Hanif had their first orientation session yesterday, during which they were introduced to the project and it's objectives. They were completely on-board, and had some excellent ideas of their own to share regarding the project. Today, we obtained their medical/physical fitness certificates, which are necessary in order to obtain a learner's permit. Next, we get their learner's permits. Then, let the training begin! :)

We have also identified a mechanic for our team. The operations manager, myself, and the mechanic spent yesterday afternoon looking at each rickshaw, and communicating in a mix of sign language, writing, and lots of laughter! The interaction really motivated me to brush up on my sign language skills, and make sign language a necessary component of crew training. 

Meanwhile, our very first rickshaw is up and running; we are currently offering the rickshaw service to family and friends only, so that we can get feedback (without judgement) and work out all the operational kinks.

Finally, we have been given a beautiful office space, completely free of cost, for one whole year! All project activities (training, retrofitting, refurbishment etc) will take place here. Please see attached pictures.  

So, I'd like to send you another heartfelt thank you for helping us achieve all of this... I wish you could all be here to meet the team, and to feel the energy/excitement we feel in getting things started! 

We do have a little bit more money left to raise, so do keep passing on the link to our Global Giving page. http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/rickshaws-by-people-with-disabilities/

Wishing you a happy weekend,

Reem and the project team.