Iraq: … and It Still Runs Like a Charme!

You can find it parked in the lobby at the Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration Centre in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq.

Before it arrived here, though, it used to rush around the corridors of the paediatric ward at the hospital for landmine victims just a few metres away, which we handed over to the local healthcare authorities in 2005.

It’s EMERGENCY’s very own 007, built in 1998 in the labs at the Centre by amputee and disabled former patients. Blacksmiths, carpenters and expert leather workers, trained by us, came together to create not just a miniature car, but a real work of mechanical engineering.

Child patients in the paediatric ward at the Surgical Centre ride to the operating theatre on 007. When they drive it along the red line that marks out the route to the theatre, their tears and fear turn into the smiles and bravery they need for the big challenge they face.

Today, it’s still being ridden by the amputee children we provide artificial limbs for at the Rehabilitation Centre to help them get back to their daily lives.

007 gets repaired every year and, even though it was a long time ago, the day it first hit the corridors is still a fond memory for our staff. And it still runs like a charm!