A Special Drill on the Wheelchair

As the alarm sounded, villagers of Ma Village run to an open square following the lead of their cadre, efficiently and orderly. Among them, there is a woman sitting in the wheelchair being pushed all the way there.

Seven years also, Ming Gui was still healthy. She took care of the farm works of the family with fair enough income. However, after her legs were diagnosed with osteomyelitis, her health conditional turn worse and worse, and she could no longer walk by herself. Even though she does not need help on the daily living, no longer can she do the farm works. After giving away the farmland the family lived on, her son and his wife, who are both migrant workers, became the sole source of income.

In 2013, the unexpected earthquake struck the peaceful village. Villagers all got frightened as they knew little about how to protect themselves in such a disaster. In retrospect of that day, Ming Gui said, ”everyone just ran out. But I could do nothing because of my legs. I brought trouble to my family, because they had to carry me to run”. She could not stop blaming herself. But luckily, no one got hurt.

After the earthquake, the village started to pay attention to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and hosted some drills in the community. But as for the inconvenience of her leg, Ming Gui had not attended any of the drills. But this time is different. Ming Gui and another villager with disability were the focus of this DRR drill, which had taken into consideration of the special needs of disability. There was a support group established, members of which would took immediate action when disaster comes. They will provide timely one-to-one support for people with disability in the community, helping them to evacuate.

Ming Gui said, “I was nervous and frightened when I first being pushed out. It is the first time for me to participate at such a drill and also the first time that people push me running. I feel very warm and touched”.
Seven years also, Ming Gui was still healthy. She took care of the farm works of the family with fair enough income. However, after her legs were diagnosed with osteomyelitis, her health conditional turn worse and worse, and she could no longer walk by herself. Even though she does not need help on the daily living, no longer can she do the farm works. After giving away the farmland the family lived on, her son and his wife, who are both migrant workers, became the sole source of income.

In 2013, the unexpected earthquake struck the peaceful village. Villagers all got frightened as they knew little about how to protect themselves in such a disaster. In retrospect of that day, Ming Gui said, ”everyone just ran out. But I could do nothing because of my legs. I brought trouble to my family, because they had to carry me to run”. She could not stop blaming herself. But luckily, no one got hurt.

After the earthquake, the village started to pay attention to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and hosted some drills in the community. But as for the inconvenience of her leg, Ming Gui had not attended any of the drills. But this time is different. Ming Gui and another villager with disability were the focus of this DRR drill, which had taken into consideration of the special needs of disability. There was a support group established, members of which would took immediate action when disaster comes. They will provide timely one-to-one support for people with disability in the community, helping them to evacuate.

Ming Gui said, “I was nervous and frightened when I first being pushed out. It is the first time for me to participate at such a drill and also the first time that people push me running. I feel very warm and touched”.

Mr. Hong is the one who helped Ming Gui. He is a member of the support group. Even though it is the first real drill he joined in, he was not flustered. He checked the function of Ming Gui’s wheelchair carefully and then pushed her out. Mr. Hong said, “They are more vulnerable than us in front of disaster. We pay special attention to wheelchair users. As they need the assistant of the tool to leave the danger, we, the helpers have to be calm and confident to make sure the wheelchair works well and be familiar with the evacuation route”.

In 2016, World Vision has introduced disability elements into our community based DRR activities, aiming to enhance community disaster resilience and inclusive of their disabled members.