Azraq Camp adaptation workshop remains a hub for innovation and excellence

Combining the Inclusive Education technical team’s problem solving skills, creativity, leadership, the support of the Syrian volunteers, the availability of scrap materials and with funding from UNICEF, Mercy Corps is playing a pivotal role in devising and providing tools, equipment and smart solutions for children with disabilities.

One of the major challenges children with disabilities and their parents face in the refugee camp is transportation. Lack of transportation impedes the ability of these children to reach their school. The challenge is compounded for children with physical disabilities, especially when their disability mandates that they use wheelchairs. This would force the parents and their children to take longer routes in order to make sure that they use paved roads to reach their destination. For some parents it takes them up to an hour to reach the school.

Accordingly, the Mercy Corps team came up with the transportation solution concept, and started gathering scrap materials needed to create a model, which was tested, and a final design was created in the adaptation workshop.

Scrap materials consist of scrap bicycles gathered in the camp from CARE International, these bicycles were moved to the workshop premises, they were counted, categorized, and later underwent maintenance work, redesign, and assembly in order to create bicycles with side trollies.

What distinguishes this innovation is that the side trollies can be easily installed and removed from the bicycle without damaging or tampering with the original design. The trolley is wide enough to accommodate the child and his/her wheelchair, it also offers a high level of safety through a floor mounted belt along with a mounted metal bar to ensure the wheelchair is locked in, a hand-break is also installed in order to mount the trolley on the ground while the child climbs up and down to maximize safety as well.

Until now Mercy Corps’ Inclusive Education Team manufactured 14 trollies, which are being distributed to parents of children with physical disabilities. An additional 10 trollies will be manufactured by the end of July, 2021. These products will also be stationed in the schools for Syrian volunteers to transport a number of children in need to and from the schools.

One parent who received the trolley expressed great happiness and excitement as the product allowed him, for the very first time, to take his children who have physical disabilities on an outing in the camp, something they were never able to do before.

Mercy Corps has been leading inclusive education programming for children with disabilities since 2008. Our holistic approach provides Jordanian and Syrian children with disabilities with personalized support, training educators to identify and assist them with appropriate tools. It also offers Jordanian schools new systems to ensure access to equitable learning opportunities and works with communities to raise awareness around these children.

Additionally, Mercy Corps plays an active advocacy role in institutionalizing inclusive education policies in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.