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Rotarians load mobility devices into a truck for eventual shipment to Kenya. From left, front row: Joy Aliadarous and sister Jill Doty; back row: Roger and wife Jan Gregory, Joe Goralka, John Rice, Igor Kapinski, Mark Roberts, and Candice Talbot of the Crutches4Africa charity. Photo David Talbot
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On July 1, the Rotary Clubs of Moraga and Rossmoor completed the delivery of almost half of a shipping container full of mobility devices such as crutches, canes, walkers, wheelchairs, and rollators to Crutches4Africa, a charity that specializes in the distribution of these devices to people in Kenya and other African countries who can't otherwise afford them. This service project completed a dual club effort spearheaded by Joy Aliadarous, Rossmoor president, and Roger Gregory, now president of Moraga Rotary, and the collection efforts of the Rotarians in both clubs.
The founder of Crutches4Africa, David Talbot and his wife, Candice, arrived July 1 at the Santa Maria Church, Orinda storage site to transfer the collected mobility items from the 40-foot trailer to their large U-Haul truck for future shipment. They were assisted by Rotarians Joy Aliadarous and her sister Jill Doty, Roger Gregory and his wife Jan, and Rotarians Joe Goralka, John Rice, Igor Kapinski, and Assistant Governor Mark Roberts.
Talbot, who founded the Crutches4Africa charity in 2006, is an ex-documentary film producer. He and his wife, Candice, formed the charity with an initial shipment of 235 crutches that went to Uganda. In addition to their work with Crutches4Africa, David and Candice Talbot worked in a kibbutz in Israel in the 1960s. David Talbot was crippled by polio as a child and he uses two crutches and has a brace on his left leg. In Kenya, Uganda and Ghana, which seem to be the most served nations by this charity, Talbot is known as "The Hat." He rolls into town and he and Candice and the local Rotary distribute the mobility aids.
To date their organization has delivered 58,000 mobility devices to 15 countries in Africa and nine other destinations. The walking aids collected in Rossmoor and Moraga will be comingled with devices from elsewhere to fill a seagoing container that will be shipped to Houston to board a ship for Kenya. Target date for arrival in Kenya is early September.
Candice Talbot says she takes dresses along for the little girls. She told about groups in the USA who make dresses from pillowcases (although, with pounding on rocks for laundry, they've had to move to sturdier fabric because the plain pillow cases wouldn't last a year.) The little girls' eyes glow when they get both a walking aid and a new dress. Most have never had a new dress before.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA