ROLLING GARDENING CHAIR

ASSISTIVE GARDENING DEVICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN RURAL UGANDA

THE PROJECT

CanUgan, an Ottawa-based NGO, in association with the Kasese District Union of People with Disabilities (KADUPEDI) presented the need for devices to assist people with disabilities in the rural area of Kasese, Uganda. The goal of this project was to design devices that not only assist these users but also create empowerment by allowing these devices to contribute in improving the quality of life of the user, their family and their community. Using KADUPEDI's expertise on the distribution and manufacturing of assistive devices assured that the device would fit within its intended context.

The project included a two week field study in Kampala and Kasese, Uganda, where we would be working with board members from KADUPEDI, local manufacturers, real users of the devices designed as well as faculty members from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.

Research Phase: Why gardening devices?

Prototyping: Making it work.

After our research phase, work began on ideating and prototyping a usable device that would help mobility impaired people in Uganda maintain and cultivate their own garden.

This work consisted of simplifying and redesigning an existing North American gardening chair to create something that would be able to be manufactured and be able to withstand the rough environmental conditions in Uganda. Once a proper design direction was found, the first prototype was built and then tested through different wheel configurations, seat heights and steering mechanisms.

Keeping things as simple as possible was one of the main criteria when coming up with new ideas. By keeping things simple, the chances of keeping the project feasible increased exponentially.

What follows is the prototyping phase done in Canada before heading to Uganda.

Prototyping in Uganda:

While in Uganda, we were fortunate enough to work closely with Kio and his assistants to manufacture our prototypes, and with our intended users to better understand their needs. What follows are a few pictures showing our work process during our stay in Kasese.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Our trip to Uganda provided us with invaluable experiences that informed our design immensely. We gained much insight into the lives of our users, their culture, society and environment they lived in.

Final Design

The project continued in Canada smoothly after having learned much in Uganda. Many updates were done to the design and some features were changed. The addition of a better seat, footrests, a basket holder and a different propulsion mechanism were added to develop the next stage of the working prototype.