My travels have taken me far and wide, visiting cities across the world and experiencing many different levels of disabled access. Here is my take on how the facilities are in cities worldwide for powerchair users.

Born and bred in Britain, I have had a pretty great time using my powerchair since passing the driving test before turning six. Although, I use to get injured by falling with my chair at the beginning, that was part of learning process. 

The first time I travelled abroad was to Karachi before turning one years old. I have visited the city several times now and the first time I took my powerchair was in 2003. People there do not see powerchairs every day, so there were a few stares, especially from children. One kid lifted his pinkie (small finger) at me which meant p*** off. My family installed a ramp in front of the house for my powerchair access, but the city was a different story and I had to use my manual chair due to bad roads and steps in shops and other households.

The city is home to Clifton Beach and Karachi Race Club where my grandfather worked as the secretary. 

Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan and the 12th largest in the world, with a population exceeding 20 million.

Picture of Clifton Beach, also known as Sea View. 

I visited Lahore for a few days the last time I went to Pakistan, back at the end of 2006. The houses had adequate wheelchair access but again most of the outside areas did not and the roads were much rougher than Karachi’s. I went to Badshahi Mosque which was built between 1671 and 1673. It remains the largest mosque of the Mughal empire. I thought it was 95% wheelchair accessible and I enjoyed roaming around in my powerchair and photobombed a family picture by hiding in a cave. The only place which I could not see was a small rocky area deep down at the bottom of the mosque. Lahore is the second largest city in Pakistan and 26th largest in the world, with a population of 13 million.

Picture of Badshahi Mosque.

I feel that Pakistan has the potential to become wheelchair accessible, just like Britain used to have nearly a century ago. However, in my opinion the current government is not supporting disabled people, and Imran Khan, whom I believe is the light of Pakistan, is being held back from developing the country and making life better for its citizens. 

I have visited Dubai twice and despite having the lack of facilities for people with disabilities during my first visit in 2003, everyone went out their way to be of assistance. Some tourist guides saw my mum pushing my chair and immediately took over and lifted me onto funfair rides. I visited the country again in 2008 and the house which I stayed in was extremely spacious which allowed me to see every room in my wheelchair, however getting in through the entrance using a steep ramp proved to be a challenge. 

If I had the money, I would love to stay at the “seven-star” hotel, Burj Al Arab and report on their wheelchair access.

Picture of the house in Dubai where I stayed during my second visit.

I have visited Qatar trice now and each time the disabled access had improved. I can only remember a small portion from my first trip back in 2001 though. Every house had stairs but being only a small 11-year-old boy at that time, traveling in a blue pushchair wasn’t such a problem.  

As I mentioned in my FIFA World Cup report from 2022, when I visited Qatar in 2015 transportation was a major issue as there were only two wheelchair accessible taxis back then. I attended a wedding at that time and unfortunately had to use a manual chair instead of my powerchair which restricted me, and I remember feeling disheartened. During the same trip, the airport managed to lose the charger for my powerchair, but to everyone’s delight, one of my cousins managed to buy one before leaving from London and saved our worries. FIFA has helped Qatar become more developed and wheelchair friendly. I hope that they can do the same for other countries I have been to.

Photo of me during my first visit to Qatar.

In 2001, my family and I went to Makkah and Madinah for Umrah, a holy pilgrimage where Muslims walk around the Kaaba (a stone building at the centre of Islam’s most important mosque and holiest site a.k.a. the Sacred House of God), seven times in a counterclockwise direction and walk seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah as Hagar (peace be with her), did when looking for help. Both hills were paved smoothly and were easy to go up and down in my pushchair. The pilgrimage ends by shaving your head or having a small trim. I wish to go again with my powerchair and embrace the access fully.

Photo of me dressed for Umrah.

I went to Marmaris in 2000, a resort town along the Turkish Riviera and stayed at a hotel where the staff were super nice towards my needs. In fact, so much so that they would give me a free drink most evenings which made us feel very welcome.  The public transport there had good facilities too. 

Eight years later I visited the country again and stayed in Dalyan. The roads were hazardous, (I thought the bus that we were on was about to fall off a mountain). The streets were not wheelchair friendly at all nor was the villa we stayed at which had three levels with numerous flights of stairs. 

Picture of Marmaris and the coastline. 

I have been to many European cities several times. I once visited Dortmund in Germany, Bruges in Belgium, Amsterdam and Paris three times. They all had good wheelchair access, however, Tenerife in Spain proved to be the best for people with special needs. I stayed at a privately-run hotel called Mar y Sol. The hotel mainly caters for the disabled by offering rooms with a wheel-in shower, large pools with hoists, adapted car hire for drivers with disabilities, an accessible sports hall, electric beds and much more. 

Perhaps an ideal place for a honeymoon. The kid inside me found his perfect toyshop and a zoo called Loro Parque, home to thousands of parrots along with other animals from across the world. Everything seemed like a dream come true to me. 

This was my fourth trip to Spain. I previously visited Minorca, Madrid, and Barcelona. These cities were wheelchair friendly. Unfortunately, I was unable to see any of the football stadiums such as Camp Nou in Barcelona.

I have also travelled to the USA twice and I found it shocking as a more economically developed country (MEDC) not to see a single house with disabled access. I mostly stayed in Boston, Massachusetts as I have family friends living there. Every house I went to were mostly on small hilltops and had stairs to enter. I used to be as light as a feather when I first went so it was easy to carry me everywhere. My powerchair charger could not be plugged in due to the sockets being different so we found a mobility shop in the area, and they generously let us borrow one of theirs for free. Thanks to them I was able to explore the outside city without anyone pushing me. I felt independent and full of joy. We went to Canada too which had better accessibilities for wheelchair users. We visited the US again in 2018 and stayed at a hotel which was wheelchair friendly and had no issues with charging my chair.

Picture of family friends’ house.

I enjoy exploring the world in my powerchair and evaluating how accessible each country is.  Unfortunately, when I have travelled something always seems to go wrong with my powerchair.  For example, the airport losing the charger or receiving my chair late, (I once had to wait for an entire day for my powerchair to arrive). Even though I take my manual chair for back up, it is not the same, as I feel restricted and need to rely on someone to push me around.

Even to local places, I always take my portable ramps with me everywhere I go as shops and other buildings may have small steps to enter. However, as I mentioned earlier about the houses in USA, it will be nearly impossible to use my powerchair where there are so many sets of stairs to go up.

To conclude, there will always be a lack of disabled access across the world, but this gives me a chance to report on these issues and raise awareness for wheelchair and powerchair users such as myself.

Stay tuned for my next adventure exploring disabled access.

By Khaleel Chima