Every summer, students from local high schools in Akita Prefecture gather to learn how to repair secondhand wheelchairs to be sent overseas.

On Aug. 7 in the city of Daisen in the southern part of the prefecture, Tomoki Inoue, a third-year student from a public high school in Omagari, cleaned and changed the tires on wheelchairs that will be sent to Sri Lanka this fall.

Inoue, who took part in the project for the first time, said he has been aware of the hurdles faced by people with disabilities since childhood.