Turkey’s state-run aid agency has reached disabled people around the world by donating a total of 5,330 pieces of medical equipment and prosthetics in the last five years.
TIKA has supported the various needs of people with disabilities in different geographies of the world, from Asia to Europe and from Africa to Latin America, according to a statement by the aid agency.
In the last five years, support in the form of 358 pieces of medical equipment was provided for the visually impaired in various countries, 195 pieces for the hearing impaired and 4,777 pieces for the orthopedic disabled.
- Balkans program
TIKA launched a program called “I am overcoming my disability with Turkey” first in Bosnia and Herzegovina and then in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia.
The program includes special education applications and social and cultural activities for students who need special education. Teacher training activities for this area include vocational training programs given to individuals with special education needs and ensuring their participation in these programs.
As part of the program, a vocational workshop for hearing impaired students and a multi-sensory stimulation room for children with autistic spectrum disorders were established in Romania’s capital Bucharest.
- Work for the disabled in Palestine
Long-term power outages in Gaza pose a major problem for patients who have to use medical equipment that depends on energy.
TIKA supported their treatment by installing a solar power system in the homes of 30 patients in need of special care who have experienced this problem.
In addition, 30 people of all ages who suffered hearing loss due to various reasons, especially Israel's attacks, were given devices through a project carried out by the Es-Selame Association in Gaza and supported by TIKA.
A total of 50 battery powered wheelchairs were also distributed to Palestinians with special needs, including five in each province in the West Bank.
- Asian-Caucasus Studies
As part of TIKA's support for disabled people, sports and office equipment was provided to the Herat Paralympic Federation in Afghanistan, and the sports equipment warehouse belonging to the federation was renovated.
In Kyrgyzstan, the aid agency renovated the education department which operates within Balikci City No. 10 State School in the Issik Lake District for children with disabilities.
In Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, a total of six handicapped elevators were built in the underpasses of the Philharmonic, Academy of Sciences and Pushkin Square located on Rustaveli Street.
New prosthetic machines were also provided to the Social Rehabilitation Center For the Disabled, which serves all civilian and military citizens in need in Georgia.
- Studies in other regions
TIKA has provided a total of 400 packages of hygiene supplies to disabled and orphaned families, hospitals and public institutions as part of the fight against the novel coronavirus in Guinea, West Africa.
In Mexico, one of the Latin American countries, a conference hall and some special areas of the Center for the Disabled associated with the governorship of Mexico City were renovated and the central campus was modernized.
*Writing by Merve Berker
