Tuk Tuk 1 Complete

Our wheelchair accessible tuk tuk is complete!  This is just the prototype, so we will make some minor changes to the production model.  The last time I was inside one of these tuk tuks, it took three people to get me in and my wheelchair traveled in a separate car.  This time, with Lailith’s help to push up the ramp, I was able to get inside and transfer onto the seat with ease.  Lalith put my wheelchair on the roof rack and we took a test drive around the village.  I felt safe and comfortable.  Tomorrow we will continue the performance and safety tests and show it off to some folks.

Tuk Tuk reborn

It's amazing what a little primer, paint, and a lot of TLC can do.  Our tuk tuk is starting to look new again.

Ready for Painting

By the looks of these pictures, it seems that we have taken a bunch of steps back, but work on the tuk tuk is proceeding well. The accessibility modifications are almost completed. The only design work that remains are fabricating a rack to hold the wheelchair after the passenger transfers onto the tuk tuk seat, and installing seat belts and other hardware. The vehicle we bought is two decades old and spent its life on the harsh Sri Lankan roads, so the tuk tuk needs a lot of cosmetic work. Lalith disassembled all the modifications to correct all the rust areas, dents, and bent and missing metal. The vehicle will be sanded down and ready for painting soon.

Colonel Manatunga Pays us a Visit

When GAF visited Sri Lanka last summer, we met with over a dozen local and international organizations working with the disabled community here.  From these, we identified three potential partners that we can collaborate with to implement our projects.  The first of these organizations is the army rehabilitation hospital at Ragama.  Every soldier at this facility is a casualty of Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war that lasted 26 years.  Yesterday we stopped by Ragama to speak with the base commander, Colonel Manatunga.  The colonel is also a disabled soldier.  He was partially paralyzed in 1994 when he was shot in the head.  Colonel Manatunga gave us a complete tour of the base while we discussed GAF’s tuk tuk project and the long-term livelihood project.  He is very supportive of our efforts in Sri Lanka.  He was so energized that he came to see the progress of the modified tuk tuk today. 

Work on the Tuk Tuk Begins

When GAF envisioned the tuk tuk project, we planned to eventually make a vehicle that can be driven by a person in a wheelchair.  While this remains a long term goal, our current focus is to adapt the tuk tuk to accommodate disabled passengers.  Working with Lalith and his team, we designed the modifications so that the same vehicle can work for either a disabled passenger or a driver in a wheelchair.  Two days have passed since we began the work.  The vehicle was stripped to the frame before the real modifications were started.  See the pictures.

tuk tuk work begins

Today we brought the tuk tuk to the mechanic who will do the modifications.  He is young, confident, and is looking forward to building a bunch of these. 

Bought our first tuk tuk

Today we bought a tuk tuk, a 3-wheeled scooter that will be a prototype for the first wheelchair accessible vehicles developed in Sri Lanka. Check out the pics on our Facebook page.