WAFCAT has received a generous donation of 30,000 Baht for Wonderful Wheel Fund from BJSA (Association of IT & Software Japanese Companies in Bangkok). On February 14, 2012, three representative members of BJSA (Mr. Junichi Kuroda, M･SOFT (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Mr. Yoichi Murade, QUNIE CORPORATION, and Mr. Toru Watanabe, Marubeni Software & Technology (Thailand) Co., Ltd.) visited Thai Wheel for the factory tour. Afterwards, they participated in a wheelchair hand-over ceremony at Nonthaburi Special Education Center. WAFCAT also donated daily groceries and 38 disabled children’s families who were affected by the floods last year, which was donated by WAFCA in Japan.

On February 10th, WAFCAT hosted 20 members of Rotary International District 2760 (Rotaract Club) in Aichi, Japan to visit Thai Wheel Industry, Baan Nonthaphum (Pakkred Home), and Lopburi Panyanukul School. The Rotaract members also donated for Wonderful Wheel Fund, lunch support for Pakkred Home, and 102 sets of color pencils at Lopburi Panyanukul School.

The participants said that the program made them think about the meaning of ‘life’ at the same time as they received lots of power from children with disabilities in Thailand.

Thai Wheel Factory Tour	Feeding children with multiple disabilities at Baan Nonthapum	Group photo at Lopburi Panyanukul School
Making paper crafts with students at Lopburi Panyanukul School

As part of Education Support Project for Disabled Children in Northeast Thailand, WAFCAT supported 6 schools where disabled students attend with our scholarships in the fiscal year 2011.

In January 2012, WAFCAT organized hand-over ceremonies of donated facilities, followed by Mobile Training on “barrier-free school for everyone” at the 6 schools. There were about 1,200 students in total including 7 disabled students, and many guests from  local organizations and communities participated in the activities.

The training program developed by WAFCAT included a role play of using barrier-free toilets and wheelchairs, activity-based workshops on helping with each other and healthy life. All of the activities were facilitated by Sangkaw Group from Surin and Special Education Centers in Surin and Buriram.

One of the participant students said, “I didn’t know that not only disabled people but also all of us can use barrier-free toilets.”

Another student who experienced using a wheelchair said, “I was a bit scared because it moved faster than I thought. Also, moving forward between gaps was very difficult, but it was a good experience.”

During January and February 2012,  WAFCAT collected the total of 30,785 THB from our donation boxes placed at many places. We really appreciate for the hospitality and cooperation from Thai DENSO Group companies as well as other companies.

All of the contributions will make the life of children with disabilities to be brighter!