BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Mothers cradle children in their arms. Fathers smile softly at the helpless bodies they hold. Other parents are bent over from the weight of their teenage kids whose legs fall limp, almost touching the ground. In the absence of basic medical equipment, these parents do this every day. An  Iraqi boy gives a thumbs up after receiving his wheelchair. Brad Blauser, center, created the program. Khaled is a father of three. On this day, his young daughter, Mariam, is getting fitted for her new wheelchair. Her arms and legs are painfully thin, little more than skin and bone. She's 7 years old, but looks barely half that. She and both her siblings, a sister and brother, suffer from varying degrees of polio. None of them can walk.
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Wheelchair distribution was the vision of American contractor Brad Blauser
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Humanitarian group brings the kids to a safe area so they can get the wheelchairs
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"I am sick of life," says Dad who has three children disabled from polio
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Wheelchairs are made by prisoners in South Dakota, delivered by U.S. military
Blauser is helped on the @placeholder missions by the civil affairs division of the U.S. military, which helps organize the safe transport of the families to the distribution point and adjustment of the wheelchairs to fit each child.