On nearly every street in Mosul, Iraq, disabled children can be seen dragging themselves on the ground just to keep up with their friends, said Brad Blauser, Class of 1992.
Blauser is the founder of Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids, a project that provides wheelchairs to disabled children in Iraq. He began the project with Major David Brown.
It began when Blauser sent out an e-mail asking for 12 wheelchairs, and the response was better than expected, he said. A number of organizations contributed to the cause, including Wheel of Love, FedEx and Wheels for the World.
The wheelchairs originally were to be distributed by Deuce Four, a Stryker Brigade out of Fort Lewis, Wash. By the time the wheelchairs arrived, however, Deuce Four was prepared to leave Iraq, so the 1-17 Stryker Battalion assumed the responsibility.
Mosul, the third largest city in Iraq, has a population of more than 2 million and was devastated during the Iraqi government's attack on the Kurds, when chemical weapons killed many citizens Blauser said. The children of survivors are still being born with birth defects as a result, he said.
Soldiers and medics who deliver the wheelchairs set up aid clinics in public places such as schools and distribute them to children who need them the most, Blauser said. The soldiers must set up perimeters several blocks away from the clinics to protect themselves from terrorists who often try to plant bombs around the centers, he said.
"The longer they're there, the more danger they're in," he said.
People in the local communities have grown to trust the American soldiers, and have even alerted the Americans when terrorists were nearby, Blauser said.
"They understand that, as Americans, we are here to help," Blauser said. "We want them to have freedom."
Overall, the project is helping to create better relations between the people of Iraq and the United States, Blauser said. At the end of its next delivery, Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids will have provided 131 chairs to the children of Mosul, he said.
ROC Wheels, a non-profit organization that provides mobility products for people in developing countries, provided 100 wheelchairs to Blauser's project at a discounted cost of $200 each.
Children who receive the wheelchairs suffer from a variety of disabilities such as cerebral palsy and spina bifida, said Matthew Fargo, Battalion Surgeon for the 1-17 Stryker Battalion.
"Last October our unit gave out approximately 30 pediatric wheelchairs to children in Mosul in an approximate two-week period, and I expect that we will be able to distribute 100 chairs in a relatively short period of time as well," Fargo said.
The donated chairs are equipped with head supports, leg supports and lateral supports, and are custom fitted to each individual child, said Andrew Babcock, executive director of ROC Wheels. The wheelchairs will greatly improve the lives of the children and families that receive them, he said.
"We've been helping kids who have been forgotten about," he said of ROC Wheels. "We're happy to help these kids who have no other options whatsoever."