This loan of love has no interest but to give mobility to those who are needy

One of the oldest Pakistani residents of Oman, Syedzada Sakhawat Ali Shah Bukhari, a philanthropist who passed away earlier this year, continues to live on through his social welfare work legacy carried forward by his son Shaandar Bukhari.

Shaandar has recently initiated lending wheelchairs and walkers to those in need without a cash deposit.

“These chairs and walkers are given to those in need on a short and long-term basis. The aim is to help those people who cannot afford to buy such items,” Shaandar said.

“It happened that I entered a building and as I approached the lift, I saw a woman pushing an office chair with wheels with a little boy sitting on it with an injured foot.

Upon inquiring, she told me that her son had a fractured foot and she could not afford to buy a wheelchair so she was using the office chair for mobility,” Shaandar said.

“I was told that they carry him to school and back until he is fully recovered. There are more similar cases where the patients had been lying on the bed for weeks with very little mobility which led to their condition deteriorating.”Shaandar said he strongly felt a need to have a place from where such items could be given on loan.

“There was no such facility except for one or two local distributors who were lending wheelchairs against a refundable cash deposit. So, I arranged for funds through friends and family and bought two used wheelchairs.

Currently, we have around 10 chairs,” Shaandar said.

“I loan wheelchairs without any cash deposit. I am glad many have appreciated the initiative and we hope to expand further.”

Hailing the initiative, Umm Hamed, an Omani philanthropist stated, “Firstly I would like to thank my Shaandar for his kind idea, and through my survey of the beneficiaries, they are very satisfied with this initiative.”

“I hope that people will come forward for such good initiatives.

Currently, we have given two wheelchairs for the long term; one to an elderly lady and another to a young differently abled boy,” she said.

Shaandar Bukhari can be contacted only on WhatsApp at 96000351/99000351 and no calls, please.