{"id":39,"date":"2018-02-18T12:21:15","date_gmt":"2018-02-18T03:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/?page_id=39"},"modified":"2026-03-15T10:40:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T01:40:54","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Go! Fly! Wheelchairs is an NPO based in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/contact\/\">Sapporo, Japan<\/a>, which <strong>collects used wheelchairs, maintains and delivers them directly<\/strong> to persons with disabilities in developing countries as hand-in-luggage of travelers.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-416 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/-e1521024736351-215x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" \/>Our aim is to:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0078a6;\"><em>Realize a society in which each of us can participate as a unique individual, despite disabilities or national borders<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--Additional info for About us (Who are we?) page--><\/p>\n<p><!--One or two paragraphs of text, with one image (generic office photo) - taken from \"GoFly\" document.--><\/p>\n<p>We achieve this on a minimal budget through the <strong>generous donations<\/strong> of wheelchairs and the <strong>cooperation of travelers<\/strong> who deliver them where they are needed.<\/p>\n<p>We collect used wheelchairs, refurbish, maintain and deliver them directly to persons with disabilities in developing countries throughout the world as hand-luggage of willing travelers.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"border: 2px solid #FFD964; text-align: center;\">As of MAR 2026 3509<strong>\u00a0wheelchairs<\/strong> have been sent to <strong>84 countries<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In 2023, we are celebrating our <strong>25th anniversary<\/strong> &#8211; read about our history <a href=\"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/history\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/for-volunteers\/\">Volunteers<\/a>\u00a0work in our <strong>dedicated workshop<\/strong> to refurbish the wheelchairs to mint condition, confer with NGOs in developing countries to assess the needs of physically limited people, and after finding a match, have the wheelchairs delivered and handed over to willing organizers who then arrange delivery to the user. The wheelchairs flown throughout the developing world bring dignity and independence to the user and in turn\u00a0have a huge impact on families and communities.<\/p>\n<p>Since repair and regular maintenance are essential to extend the life of the wheelchairs, we <strong>organize workshops<\/strong> and often send teams abroad to teach the necessary skills for wheelchair upkeep. Replacement parts and tools are not available in many underdeveloped countries, so we carry them abroad ourselves or help to locate local suppliers who can stock the repair shops. We plan to carry out more training workshops and to <strong>set up repair shops<\/strong> so the users and people who assist them can carry on with maintenance themselves.<\/p>\n<p><strong>We are able to operate on the kind donations and support of people across the globe. Please <a href=\"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/donate-2\/\">donate<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/for-volunteers\/\">get involved<\/a> if you can!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you would like to learn more please contact us or <a href=\"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/about-us\/invite-us-to-visit-your-school-or-group\/\">invite us to visit your school or group<\/a> to give a lecture or workshop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Go! Fly! Wheelchairs is an NPO based in\u00a0Sapporo, Japan, which collects used wheelchairs, maintains and delivers them directly to persons with disabilities in developing countries as hand-in-luggage of travelers. Our aim is to: Realize a society in which each of us can participate as a unique individual, despite disabilities or national borders. We achieve this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":77,"href":"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":939,"href":"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions\/939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tondeke.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}