Plastic water bottle caps and any other plastic caps or lids from domestic products, even the caps on tubes of toothpaste, can help provide the needy with wheelchairs. This is the idea of a campaign called 'Farahhom wa Es'edhom' (Make them Joyful and Please Them). This idea was born of a brainstorming session of some Turkish businesswomen living in Cairo. An Egyptian businessman called Sherif el-Barbari adopted it a few months ago, to make their dream come true. "We've been scouring schools, supermarkets and universities, telling them about our campaign. They can save up their plastic caps and lids, and, when they have a lot, they can call us and we will send a volunteer to collect them. "After collecting several tonnes of these plastic caps, we will take them to a factory for recycling. We will use the money to buy wheelchairs for the needy," el-Barbari told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview. The campaign consists of around 900 volunteers who have been visiting many places in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria Governorates, Sharqia and Sharm el-Sheikh. They are planning to spread the idea to all Egyptian governorates in the near future. Meanwhile, next month, they are hoping to see the first fruits of their efforts. "We will buy both ordinary and electric wheelchairs. We will distribute the electric ones to people who can use them in the streets, while the ordinary wheelchairs will be distributed in rural areas, as their streets there are sandy," el-Barbari explained. Readers also very welcome to take part in the campaign. They can collect lots of plastic caps and lids, put them in a bag or a box, then call 011 1277 9111, so that a volunteer can come to collect them.
