A rehabilitation center in Kyrgyzstan has received a shipment of canes donated by a Tokyo man who has been helping visually impaired people in the central Asian country.
Shinji Matsuda of Ome City shipped the canes in September last year but they were stuck en route when distribution networks around the world slowed amid the coronavirus pandemic. The items finally arrived in May.
"I'm glad to know they arrived safe and sound. Next, I'd like to send wheelchairs," said Matsuda, 72, who received an email with a letter from the Central Asian country thanking him for the donation.
Matsuda applied to join a senior overseas volunteer program in the Japan International Cooperation Agency after he retired from work.
He was in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, from 2011 to 2013, coaching visually impaired runners and guides for athletes with limited vision at a local association for people with sight and hearing problems.
Matsuda, who had kept in touch with the association after returning to Japan, learned in around 2018 that canes and wheelchairs were in short supply in Kyrgyzstan.
The retiree thought he might be able to collect canes in Japan and in the summer of 2019, he put out the call for unused canes, asking for assistance from a welfare facility in Ome and a marathon guide runners' group for the vision impaired.
By the end of December 2019, Ma-tsuda had collected 70 canes for the disabled and 30 canes for the visually impaired.
In 2020 he began preparations to ship the canes to Kyrgyzstan, just as shipping and air services were being suspended due to the pandemic.
It was September last year that a post office gave the OK to accept the shipment via sea mail, so Matsuda sent the 100 canes packed in five cardboard boxes. However, there was no news of the shipment's arrival, even after six months. Such shipments normally take about three months to arrive.
On May 4, Matsuda finally received news from the Kyrgyz facility of the shipment's long-awaited arrival, eight months after the canes had left Japan.
The 70 canes for the disabled are used at the rehabilitation center, and the 30 for the visually impaired were sent to another organization.
Matsuda subsequently received an email with a photo from the facility and a letter thanking him for the donation.
"There were moments when I felt frustrated because the shipment had not arrived, but now I'm glad because I was able to deliver the goodwill of those who cooperated with our project," Matsuda said.
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