In October 2020, Rehatec supported Konvoi der Hoffnung e. V., a non-profit organisation, and donated special needs equipment to disabled children in Mozambique - 19 Nele activity chairs in various sizes, 2 mobility bases and a Noah indoor frame.

The initiator

Jasmin Kiesel, nursery teacher at a school for disabled children in the Germany city of Freiburg, laid the foundation for this extraordinary mission. 2.5 years ago, she yearned to travel and due to her good command of Portuguese she decided to spend 4 months in Mozambique.

She worked in a Catholic institution near the capital of Maputo accommodating 40 disabled children growing up without their parents. All children permanently needed the help of their caregivers and did not have any special needs equipment.

The idea for an own project was born when she tried to find a wheelchair in South Africa for some friends. So she decided to collect discarded wheelchairs in Germany and to bring them to Mozambique. At first, she always brought 2 wheelchairs with her every time she travelled to Southeast Africa by plane. Then she started renting some floor space in a shipping container, however, she was hardly able to bear the costs. So she contacted the Konvoi der Hoffnung e. V. non-profit organisation and in April 2020, they agreed to realise this project with her.

The mission

Jasmin Kiesel collected used and discarded wheelchairs from private households. She cleaned and repaired them. She also tried to contact many different manufacturers of medical equipment and we decided to support her. The Rehatec team is happy to provide a total of 24 standers, frames and chairs to the children in Mozambique.

The team overhauled 19 activity chairs, 3 indoor frames and 2 mobility bases and a member of Konvoi der Hoffnung e. V. picked them up in October. A container full of donated special needs equipment left Germany for Africa in November.

In Africa

The shipping container reached its destination in January 2021. A preacher on site started to share the special needs equipment with children living in the Catholic institution and to 40 families the institution supports. Rehatec is pleased about being able to facilitate the everyday life of these African children.

The children apply Nele, Noah and Co. everyday and make life much more easier. Using an activity chair, many children participate in everyday and leisure activities for the first time ever in a sitting position. They perceive the world around them from a new perspective and they beam with joy.

Konvoi der Hoffnung e. V.

The Konvoi der Hoffnung e. V. non-profit organisation focuses on helping people help themselves, mainly supports projects for disabled people in Third World Countries and provides learning opportunities in Africa.

The "wheelchair project" is about collecting used special needs equipment in Germany - e.g. wheelchairs, rollators and walking aids - and ships them to Third World Countries. A total of 53,000 children and adults are now able to use special needs equipment.