Mobility van desperately needed for deserving girl's quality of life.

Ghana Maya Neupane is a delightful, intelligent and gentle-natured 23 year old young lady who came to New Zealand as a Nepalese refugee 7 years ago and is now a citizen of our wonderful country. Ghana Maya did not have an easy start in life, having spent 16 years in a refugee camp, and to compound the challenges and miseries of life as a refugee, she has Muscular Dystrophy, a degenerative disease of the muscular system. This was not diagnosed until she came to New Zealand and for her childhood, she had to crawl or be carried. Patients lose the use of their limbs and become progressively weaker to a point where they may lose the ability to swallow or breathe. Ghana has already lost the use of her legs and she has limited use of her arms. Up until now, Ghana has been able to access the community by transferring from a fold-up wheelchair to a car seat but in recent months, due to her weakening muscles, this has become extremely challenging, painful and dangerous for her. Although Physiotherapists have trialed transfer devices, her unique condition makes it impossible to use them. She has an electric wheelchair and she is now at the point where she needs to travel in a total mobility van. We made an application to State Lotteries for a grant for a mobility van when Ghana got her NZ Citizenship but the application was declined due to the high number of applicants,175, and the low number of grants,57. I am therefore fundraising on her and her family's behalf. This was entirely my idea and they would not have initiated this because they are extremely humble and grateful for all that New Zealand has already given them.Ghana has an extremely loving and nurturing family who would do anything for her. She is affectionately known as Chunku which means that she is their precious little one. It is really important that Ghana has quality family and social life while she is still able to. I am sure that there are people out there who would be willing to help this lovely girl and her wonderful family by helping me to raise funds for a mobility van for her. It would be life-changing for this family to be able to go out to the park with Ghana on a sunny day and also to make day trips to places of interest in the Manawatu so that they can enjoy our beautiful country together.