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This week, the participants in the Un Ponte Per and Al Hussein Society (AHS) program have been continuing to work on designing and making two specific parts.
The first is a wheelchair cushion which has been in development for the past few weeks. After testing different fillings they moved forward with a foam based filling. The participants continued to develop the seat cushions but altered the initial design to include comfortable armrests and a back/headrest. The participants not only learned to sew, but also how to design the pattern for the cushion.
The next design that the participants made was a cup holder that attaches to the wheelchair. When we were undergoing a market assessment and talking to beneficiaries, we found a big interest and need for this item because of supports end-users in their daily lives.
We wanted the process to be simplified and straightforward so that it can be replicated with minimal equipment. The cup-holder was made using two types of natural wood; either beech (hardwood) or Swedish (softwood).
The process started by making wooden rings using two different sizes of hole saws, and the circular base was also cut using the larger size of the same hole saw set- we then glued the rings together. An additional wooden part is required to assemble the cup holder to the wheelchair.
There are two types; the first is used only on perpendicular wheelchair frame pipe and the other could be used on both perpendicular and inclined wheelchair frame pipe. The final step was to sand and prepare for final the paint or finish.
After we finished first samples we were able to fix them on different wheelchair types and our assistive device is successfully functioning. Each participant wanted to have his own cup holder, so we completed another 10 for all wheelchair users.
While we are pleased with the outcome of the product there are a few improvements we plan to make in the future. The first is making thinner wooden rings and using lighter wood. This will enable the final product to weigh less (though we want it to remain durable). The second improvement is to make a smaller fixing wooden part. This will affect the overall size of our product and make a compact one.
Participants are pleased with both of these new items and acquired new skills in the process of making them. AHS plans to show our cup-holder sample in their sales point.