Lucas gives wheels to the disabled
FRANCISTOWN: Driven by passion to change lives of the disadvantaged people in society, especially the disabled, nominated councillor Modiri Jojo Lucas is engaged in charity work to give hope to the hopeless.
At the age of 40, the politician has purposed it upon himself to change many lives for the better even those that life has condemned to the backyards just because they cannot walk or do anything on their own.
What motivated Lucas to be running around searching for wheelchairs for those who can’t walk on their own is a picture that he saw at Block One, the city’s low-income location within the Francistown South constituency. It is here that he encountered an elderly woman who was confined to her room without any opportunity to go outside.
That was during the 2019 general election where Lucas was on a campaign trail for the parliamentary seat under the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) ticket.
Unfortunately, this ambitious politician failed to make it to Parliament. Despite his setback, he never looked back. It was during the Block One campaign trail that President Mokgweetsi Masisi happened to witness the depressing situation experienced by some of the Francistowners.
“There was this elderly woman who couldn’t walk on her own because of amongst others old age and undisclosed ailment and her age was estimated to be around 97 years or so,” reminisced Lucas.
President Masisi’s words are still echoing in Lucas’ ears as the State and BDP President told Lucas: “You have appreciated the conditions of the many constituents in this area and once you win the elections, the best thing for you is to assist them accordingly.”
The President’s words have become a permanent feature in Lucas’ ears and his passion to help others has been maturing with time. So, the desire to provide assistance to those who can’t walk was birthed during election campaigns and it has been growing with Lucas’ political career.
“Look, I took advantage of the dream I already had to give hope to some of these people who direly needed assistance. Imagine people bound to their houses for years unable to walk on their own and at least enjoy some fresh breath outside,” said the youthful philanthropist.
Already, Lucas has donated wheelchairs to those in need in Gaborone, Tlokweng, Kanye, Molepolole, Mabeleapodi, Serowe, Mahalapye and other areas. Nineteen wheelchairs have been given out to the needy and many more will be given out.
Currently, Lucas has a waiting list of about 49 beneficiaries anxious to receive their new lease of life.
“I have chiefly been using the social media to link up with possible benefactors who can assist so that we in turn assist the needy. Because I depend on donations from generous members of the society and from what I contribute from my own pockets, sometimes I am forced to recognise those who assist,” he explained.
He is impressed that at least people have been showing compassion that the society is known for as some have been phoning him and making pertinent donations of old and new wheelchairs some for free whilst others demand a fee of about P500 or more.
“I visit people who keep used wheelchairs and I improve them before donating to the needy members of our society,” said Lucas, adding that there are a lot of people who need the mobile chairs to support them and their loved ones.
During the interview, Lucas received a telephone call from a certain woman he identified as Mma Chankoloba from within Block One that she has sourced three wheelchairs in Gaborone. He was expecting more from those who have made promises to ensure the waiting list is met.
Lucas has identified a need to set up a trust in order to source and distribute wheelchairs and widen up the scope of his philanthropy. To him, it was not enough to focus on wheelchairs when people’s needs are so much varied. Amongst others, the trust will combat drug and alcohol abuse.
The We Care Trust, whose focus is to provide hope to the needy in many ways is just on its way and at the right time it will be duly launched for all and sundry to appreciate.
Lucas and others have a dream of going all out to reach out to the needy people of our society as they have realised a gap in the support of some people.
He has since appreciated that even government on its own cannot provide sufficient wheelchairs without the support of individuals, corporates and others.
Recently, he had an enquiry from a government hospital asking if he could donate to them and this has shown him that the wider society was in need of help.
Lucas has also realised that wheelchairs from government hospitals are just given out to people and there will be no follow-ups to check if they still serve their purpose.
His worry stemmed from the fact that at some point in people’s lives wheelchairs become irrelevant because some people recover whilst others pass on.
He emphasised the importance of monitoring wheelchairs usage, as at some stage they were shocked to notice that some people use wheelchairs to load water bottles and buckets, which was painful to say the least. He remembers an incident in which a young man of school going age who was confined to his house because he couldn’t walk on his own to school. He was given a new lease on life when he donated a wheelchair in Mahalapye.
Lucas emphasises that no one chooses to be on a wheelchair as such anybody can be wheelchair bound. He says circumstances of life do compel and when it happens the wheelchair becomes handy.