THECHAIR THAT GIVES THE CHILDREN A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

The disabled in Tanzania have had their lives transformed by wheelchairs specially designed for the rugged terrain, reports Mike Pflanz.

'No two are the same – we travel far into rural areas to measure the children and prepare chairs just for them,' say Remmy Masue (right) and Godfrey Mangondi

It used to be that the only time Anael Ngowi left his house was for urgent trips to the hospital when, as regularly happened, his condition suddenly worsened. Physically paralysed and mentally incapacitated by what his stepmother called "spinal fever" at the age of six months, he faced a life indoors, lying on a mattress, hidden away.

Now, in a revolutionary British–designed wheelchair intended for the developing world, Anael spends his days in the sunshine, being pushed around by his brothers and sisters.

He is one of more than a thousand disabled people in Tanzania whose lives have been transformed with wheelchairs provided by Motivation, the British organisation that is one of this year's Telegraph Christmas Appeal charities.

Across the developing world, children with brain and nervous system disorders that leave them unable to care for themselves are seen as at best a burden, at worst a curse. Worst affected are those with cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

"It's proved very difficult to shift the traditional idea that parents who have a disabled child must have done something wrong and that the child's difficulties are a punishment," says Ruth Mlay, project manager in Moshi for CCBRT, a Tanzanian charity that works with Motivation.