Ottawa – Afghan Ambassador Omar Samad expressed his appreciation to Wheelchair Foundation of Canada for their recent assistance and delivery of 560 wheelchairs for disabled Afghans in the province of Kandahar.

In a phone talk with Ms. Christiana Flessner, Executive Director of the Foundation, Monday, Amb. Samad thanked her and all the donors for the “valuable and life-changing humanitarian help”.

Ms. Flessner, whose organization in several countries delivers thousands of wheelchairs yearly to the needy, said that the wheelchairs will help the recipients with mobility to seek jobs, education and a better quality life.

Conservative MP Russ Hiebert, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence announced last week that Canadian forces in Kandahar have started to distribute the aid to Afghan recipients.

The Afghan Ambassador also expressed hope for the continuation of the Afghan wheelchair program through fundraising and other activities to continue to promote the initiative in the South as well as across other regions of Afghanistan.

It is estimated that one in five Afghan adult males is maimed by decades of warfare and millions of landmines and un-exploded ordinances. Each Chinese-made wheelchair’s full cost amounts to CAN $110.

For more information or donation pledges, please refer to http://wheelchairfoundation.ca/

Embassy of Afghanistan

January 9, 2006