Wheelchair Fitting and Distribution
BCMF strives to improve the quality of life of children and adults living with mobility impairments. A person with a mobility impairment without access to a wheelchair or a mobility device, is often housebound and requires extra care. The person's caregivers, often a parent if they are children, or a spouse and/or child if they are an adult, is unable to earn an income, contribute financially to the family, attend school or participate in community life. Some caregivers are forced to leave the individual with a mobility impairment at home, immobile and unattended for much of the day.
Since 2014, BCMF provides properly fitted wheelchairs to children and adults in Thailand and Burma. Children's wheelchairs are donated by Wheelchair for Kids, while adult sized wheelchairs are donated by Free Wheelchair Mission and Rajanagarindra Institute of Child Development. The children's wheelchairs from Wheelchair for Kids are unique, designed to be fitted to each recipients' needs, and are built for unpaved roads. Wheelchairs from Wheelchair for Kids and Free Wheelchair Mission are also designed for use on unpaved roads.
The Burma Children Medical Fund (BCMF) was established in 2006 in response to the increasing number of children on the Thai-Burma border who required complex medical treatment and surgery that is not available at local clinics or hospitals. Prior to BCMF being established, children who required surgery had their symptoms treated and lived either severely incapacitated lives or died prematurely as a result.