Fort Worth Sister Cities International, in partnership with the International Service Committee of the Rotary Club, is planning a mission to Mbabane, Swaziland. An adult delegation of 25 will travel to Fort Worth’s seventh sister city from Sept. 1 – 10, 2017. Participants will deliver 265 wheelchairs and 5 bicycles directly to those in need and teach the recipients how to maintain the chairs to provide income for them and sustain the project.
Additionally, Fort Worth Sister Cities is partnering with Dream Outside the Box founder Kam Phillips to provide “Dream Delivered” boxes to the Swazi children. These boxes, brimming with fun and educational activities and pamphlets, are designed to introduce children to diverse careers, such as forensic science, journalism, and archaeology.
“Our Swaziland trip is taking the Rotary Wheelchair program to the next level. We are not only distributing donated wheelchairs to those in need, we are establishing a wheelchair and bicycle repair shop business that Mbabane citizens will operate long after we are gone,” said David Campbell, Rotary President. “The training and equipment we will provide makes this project more sustainable, creating a legacy of trade skills that will ensure the repair of wheelchairs and bicycles we bring and provide jobs for years to come.”
Some participants are also staying an additional two nights at the Shepherd’s Tree Game Lodge to experience a South African safari. With lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes, and rhinos, the group will see the “Big Five” up close and personal.
For more information about future Sister Cities exchanges, call Danielle at 817/632-7100 for more information.