Republican association of wheelchair users started the project aimed at establishing accessible housing for the wheelchair users in Belarus. Within the framework of the project it is planned to organize the production of special lifts for the wheelchair users. The lifts are to be installed at the entrances to the buildings. The production cost of the suggested lifts is 34 times cheaper than that of their counterparts installed currently in Belarus. The lifts are to be produced for the money raised from charity and installed for the wheelchair users for free.
Today in Belarus only one wheelchair user from ten can leave his flat independently. This means that around 19 thousand wheelchair users are doomed to life imprisonment at their apartments. This happens because of the fact that the buildings, where disabled people live in, have just the outdoor stairs to descend. To tackle this challenge the house should be equipped with the special lifting device. Each year Belarusian state executive bodies equip only 25 building entrances with electric lifts. In order to equip all Belarusian wheelchair users with such lifts the State would need 760 years to complete the task. It is the price of the lifts, which makes the pace of their installation extremely slow. The lifts supplied by the state bodies cost around 170-190 mln. rubles each.
Public association the “Republican association of wheelchair users” has developed and patented its own design of the lifting device to be installed in the entrances of the buildings. The suggested lift has a simple design and a very low production cost comparing with his counterparts. The mechanic version costs 5 mln. Belarusian rubles and the one with the electric motor costs 8 mln. Belarusian rubles. To date three such lifts have been already installed and proved successful in Belarus.
The association of wheelchair users starts the project aimed at establishing the simple system of improvement of the building non-accessible for people on wheelchairs. Already today any Belarusian wheelchair user trapped in the non-accessible house, has an opportunity to apply for installation of a special lift at the entrance to the building. The association will check the application and place an applicant in a queue for the optimization of the building entrance. The applicants will not pay for the service. The money will be raised from the donations received from individuals and legal entities. In case the applicant does not want to wait in the queue, the lift will be installed immediately, but at his expense. As a result of this project the quantity of the wheelchair users who lead an independent way of life and work will considerably increase. Moreover, the lifts installed for the wheelchair users can be very helpful for the mothers with children in the prams.
The first three “pilot lifts” are planned to be installed in different regions of the country until the end of spring. Now “RAWU” conducts negotiations with various Belarusian enterprises about the production of the parts for the lifts and chooses the wheelchair users for whom to install a lifting device.
All wheelchair users are invited to submit their applications for the lift installation. Please, fill into the form provided online and send it back to the email shevko@list.ru You can download the form here.
Several videos covering the changes in the lives of three people involved in the project will be shot within its framework. Additionally, in May the Association of wheelchair users will hold a photo competition “A photo from my window” for the disabled people, who do not have the possibility to leave their houses.
The project involves the members of the coalition “Accessibility – PA “Republican association of wheelchair users”, PA “Belarusian society of the disabled people”, Educational human rights institution “Office on the rights of the disabled people”, HRPA “People with spinal cord trauma” (Homel).
Tatyana Kozlovskaya
