"Mama Wahunzi" Film Documents Women's Unequal Access to Wheelchairs in Africa

"Mama Wahunzi" (meaning women blacksmiths in Swahili) is a documentary about the uphill struggle women with disabilities have to obtain wheelchairs available in Kenya and Uganda. Of the estimated 250 produced yearly by five local production workshops, a mere 1% are distributed to women.

This film records the efforts of three East African women to change the situation by learning how to produce their own wheelchairs and take charge of their own mobility. The video was made in 2001 by Lawan Jirasuradej, a Thai filmmaker, and it has won several awards, most recently at the International Disability Film Festival held in November in Munich.

The U.S. based Whirlwind Wheelchairs International and its sister group, Whirlwind Women, founded the East African project with assistance from development groups. The project provides training in wheelchair building though workshops aimed at self-sustaining entrepreneurship. The 57 minute subtitled video is available for sale and rent from Women Making Movies: www.wmm.com

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