Friday Wheelchair Story: I always wanted to learn...

I mentioned in the last blog that we met an amazing girl at a school. We met through our good friend Janette of Global Community Rising in Swandini. Athalia is 21 years old. She was born with extreme deformities in both her arms and legs. She never could walk, but she trained her arms and hands to do what she could around the home to help her poor family. Janette gave her a wheelchair about a year ago. Athalia’s sisters Zelda (13 years old) and Refilwe (14 years old) carried Athalia on their backs to get the wheelchair.

Athalia never attended school, as she had no way to get there. Their home is about 4 miles from the school. Athalia said “I always wanted to learn to read.” She cannot move the wheelchair alone, but fortunately she has a very loving family and community. Her sisters and friends push her back and forth to school every day.

Athalia started first grade, and has advanced to fourth grade already. She showed us how she learned to hold a pencil, using both her hands and arms. Slowly, patiently she forms each letter of her name; the result is beautiful. She was so proud to show us samples, a full page of her name, written many times in neatly formed letters. The page must have taken hours to complete. Her teachers were so proud of her.

A few months ago she was able to go on a field trip with her class to Kruger National Park. Athalia got a chance to see the animals that are so special to her country.

Laurie asked her what she wants to be when she gets out of school. “I have many dreams,” she said, “but right now I want to be an executive secretary.”

Friends, see what your support can do!

Greetings this Wednesday morning from SA.

We are all doing well. We have covered a lot of ground this trip, lots of miles on the road. It is a Mercedes van but I believe my van “Big Blue” gives a better ride. Yesterday the AC broke down. With the windows open it is a cool ride, a lot like riding a motorcycle without a helmet. And sometimes there are significant delays. (What sort of noises do you make to coax a rhino from blocking the road?)

The team is great. Every one is looking out for the others. This shot was from a home delivery of a wheelchair.

This girl’s name is Patience. She is 17 years old. She was walking well when she was only one year old, but then got a fever. Her parents got on a bus and took her to Pretoria, the nearest big city. She hasn’t walked since. Her mother said they have tried for years to get a wheelchair. Well, today was the day!

We also stopped at a school to interview an amazing girl and boy. They will be the subject of our blog for Friday, and our Friday Story as well. Here is a great photo though to pique your interest.

Greetings from Nelspruit, the fourth largest city in South Africa - Monday

We are all well and gradually adjusting to the demands of the day. There are parts that make me feel like I am on a vacation. The country is beautiful. Though we have not gone to any game parks, we see baboons, monkeys and birds and the sounds tell me this place different. We get up quite early, drive a lot in the van, and work together until it is time for bed.

Today we visited a nursing home that just received 8 more of our wheelchairs. They had 6 or so already, plus some from other organizations. They were used mainly for transporting residents within the complex. Useful for them, but we imagined others in much more need. We mentioned this to our hosts, and after a series of phone calls, they changed the direction of our trip. We drove out of Nelspruit about 30 miles to smaller city, not one with hotels and a new soccer stadium in construction, but one with very modest cinder brick and corrugated steel roof homes and dirt roads. Elliot was our local host from Nelspruit, and he grew up in this poor town.

There was no social infrastructure for the disabled. A local Rotary club built a meeting hall for the disabled. It provided a place for them to go in the daytime, to get some food, and some loving care from big-hearted volunteers in the neighborhood. Elliot assured us we would find our purpose there.

When we walked into this meeting hall, it was tough for many of us. They walls were gaily decorated, and it was clean. There were desks for those who could sit, and blankets on the cement floor for those who could not. It was well lit, but it still seemed and felt dark. Some of our team had to leave and gather strength before coming back inside. There were many tears in our team’s eyes. There were about 12 children with CP all lying in a row.

We didn’t take the time for a lot of proper introductions. Our team got right into gear. Some worked on adjusting wheelchairs, some on fitting recipients and some just loving the children. Within minutes the darkness left the room. Soon there was a parade of children pushing others, their friends from the floor, showing them things in the room they may never have seen before. It got a bit wild actually, in an intensely happy way, and this did not stop our tears.

That was what we are all about - a surprise visit to a meeting room full of disabled people. But now they have a chance for a better life.

Greetings and Happy Sunday!

Our team is coming together well. It usually takes a few days to get into synchrony. This is a day of rest for us, though we had a great break with four wheelers in the back country. (Hey, even mission teams get some time off, right?)

South Africa is a beautiful country. We are unanimous in our appreciation for the beauty and the people. We run across some odd warnings. Things we would never consider in our sheltered lives in Orange County.

We are getting around in a very comfortable van with a skilled driver. The major roads in South Africa are excellent, and out of the big cities the traffic is unknown. We go off road now and then. We bounce around like clothes in the washing machine’s agitation cycle. The trailer holds our gear. Our driver is a real pro. It is easy to relax, gaze out the windows and take in the beautiful countryside.

Greetings from South Africa and Happy Saturday!

Getting there is most of the battle. Even seasoned travelers can fill their heads with “what if” phantoms. I consider air travel half way around the world a miracle, and for me it is comforting to just be part of a miracle. Yet I take great delight in seeing my name held on a paper by people with smiling faces as I arrive in a new airport!

Any way you slice it, the shortest trip to South Africa is 30 hours from LA. I chose double red eye flights, and arrived in time to catch up with other members of our team, chug a triple shot of java and have a day touring Pretoria, the capital. Tourist shops feature all kinds of decoratives using various animals and animal parts. Animals still grow well here. Those in the photo are all real, stuffed, and ready to embellish your den, even the 15 foot giraffe or the 10 foot elephant.

South Africa has a very rich side and a very poor majority, with little in the middle. The cities rival major world power cities. We drove into a countryside bursting in well-watered fertile farmlands, managed by the poor living in villages. A few hours drive north took us to Dennilton and the Ndlovo Medical Center, with four doctors. The small center is the only medical service for a population of 140,000. Their focus is TB and AIDS. They had previously received a dozen of our wheelchairs, and on examination they seem very well used.

We had a 90 minute performance by children attending Youth With A Mission, also in Dennilton. Music and dance is a backbone here. The performance was really fine, About 50 of the children are orphans, AIDS having taken both parents. The school gets most of its support from the government, but the government is 10 months late in their payments. Each day the children and the staff pray for food. Each day food comes. Like I said, life in the real world.

Wheelchair distributions begin Monday.

Humanity in its Finest Moments

Welcome to our mission trip blog! Eight of our greatest supporters join Laurie and me for eight days in the northern portion of South Africa. We will be in remote parts of this beautiful country. We are not sure how easy communications will be but we will attempt to communicate to you daily on our experiences. It will be easy for you to post comments for us too, and we hearing from you will be very special for us.

It is an extraordinary privilege to go on these missions. I like to tell people it is our chance to get back to the real world.  This is where we see some of the finest examples of the human spirit. I will do my best to bring you with us, if only by printed words and photos.  

Years ago, I heard a story about a wheelchair distribution in southern Africa. There were ten recipients to receive ten wheelchairs.  All was fine, but then an eleven-year-old girl crawled out of nowhere. There was no wheelchair for her.  It was sad.  An elderly woman wheeled her chair over to the young girl. “You have your whole life in front of you, and mine is almost finished. You must take my wheelchair and make the best of your life now,” she said.  She climbed out, and helped the young girl take her place.  

Humanity in its finest moments. Our team will search for these moments, both in the South Africans we come to serve, and ourselves, and we will report them back to you.