The Georgian Portage Association (GPA) runs a boarding house in Dusheti where 30 people with special needs, aged 18 to 71, live permanently. They engage in various activities, including painting and figure making, and they receive various forms of training, depending on funding from various donors.
Early in 2024, GPA asked IWA for 2,638 GEL to adapt wheelchairs for people who live in their boarding house as part of their project “Movdivart” (Coming to You). The project focuses on making precise wheelchair adjustments to provide comfort and proper health standards to the people who use them. The wheelchairs provided are second hand and thus they need to be adjusted to the user’s height, specific needs, etc. These adjustments give the beneficiaries better chances to reduce isolation, participate in public life and integrate socially.
The 2,638 GEL that IWA offered covered the purchase of materials to make these adjustments.
As I write this article, GPA has already adapted 12 wheelchairs, while another four will be adapted once their designated users feel better and can use them to move around. GPA is a public non-profit, non-governmental organization that works with children with special needs aged 0-7, and their families. The Portage International Program was introduced in Georgia 2006. In Dusheti, GPA has its own boarding house for older people with disabilities.
