Girona. 18 October 2010. In September the Prince of Girona Foundation and the association GERDD (Management Organisation for the Development of Resources for Disabled Persons) shipped a total of 230 wheelchairs to Uruguay and Guatemala. These shipments marked the start of the first phase of the cooperation agreement signed last February between the Prince of Girona Foundation, GERDD and the collectives of disabled persons Transiciones of Guatemala and ONPLI of Uruguay.

These collectives will devote themselves to the production and distribution of wheelchairs and other orthopaedic material for disabled persons in Latin America. The programme seeks to allow the creation of the conditions necessary for the manufacture and maintenance of wheelchairs for persons with a disability in the Latin American region through the establishment of two workshop companies. The wheelchairs are shipped in knock-down form, allowing the workshops in the recipient countries to assemble and distribute them.

In parallel to this project, with the added collaboration of the University of Girona (UdG), the Prince of Girona Foundation and GERDD are promoting the creation of a research and development network focused on technical aid. This network seeks to bring together the efforts of several universities to improve the design of wheelchairs and orthopaedic material for persons with a physical disability.

The Prince of Girona Foundation

The agreement with the association GERDD is set within the frame of the actions in the social and cooperation sphere promoted by the Prince of Girona Foundation to foster initiatives on the prevention of inequalities.

The Foundation has the mission, on the one hand, of supporting the training and development of young people in order to strengthen the new generations’ capacity to build a better and more solidary society, and on the other hand of dealing with the social problems of our area, finding ways to provide assistance and to promote the most vulnerable and underprivileged collectives, with special attention to youth.

With these objectives in mind, the Foundation works in four different spheres: the scientific and academic area, the cultural and sports area, the business area, and the social and cooperation area.