Signing Ceremony for the Project for Procurement of Carpentry Tools for the Production of Assistive Devices at Apters in Lusaka under Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects
2019/3/19
On 14th March 2019, Mr. Hidenobu Sobashima, Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Zambia, and Mr. Kenneth Habaalu, Director of Apters, signed a grant contract amounting to up to 43,498 US Dollars for implementing the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects “the Project for Procurement of Carpentry Tools for the Production of Assistive Devices at Apters in Lusaka”.
Apters which was established in 1990, has provided assistive devices for children with physical disabilities at affordable prices using used paper and thus has supported about 2,000 such children over the past 5 years. However, as the needs for the devices from hospitals and the families of children with disabilities not only from Lusaka but also from other Provinces increased, Apters could not respond to them, due to the degradation and inadequate quantities of the tools in its possession, delaying the production of the devices.
Against this backdrop, Apters prepared a plan to procure new carpentry tools for producing the devices and to construct the fences to strengthen its factory’s security and requested the Government of Japan to fund the plan.
With the completion of the project, the production time for the assistive devices is expected to be reduced from two weeks to about one week and the annual production may double from the recent annual average of 520 devices, enabling more children with disability to get the devices.
To read the speech of Ambassador Sobashima, please click here.