Friday Wheelchair Story: Heartbreak in Haiti

Dear Friends,

Usually I try to save the Friday Story for some good news, and to share with you stories of love and connection from the field. Today, all I can think about is our heartbreak over Haiti. Like you, we are all so concerned about the devastation Tuesday’s earthquake has wrought upon our brothers and sisters there, it is hard to know what to say. Or where to begin. Let me just share with you an email our office received last night from our distribution partner in Haiti’s island neighbor, the Dominican Republic:

Dear Don,

Please be advised that since we learned about the earthquake in Haiti we have mobilized our wheelchair distribution partners throughout the DR, and as a result of their kindness and disposition we have been able to identify one hundred wheelchairs that we can borrow from several institutions, and route them to Haiti. Hopefully we will be able to replace the borrowed chairs when our next container arrives into the DR.

We will be driving down to Haiti sometime next week. Please provide contact information of FWM partner in Haiti. We will make every conceivable effort to reach them before our arrival into Haiti.

God Blesses you every second!
Heriberto "Eddie" Marte
Fundación Universitaria Romanense

Friends, how incredibly blessed we are to live in a world that loves and cares so deeply for one another. When one of us hurts, let us all have the honor of feeling that pain just as deeply, knowing that God hears every prayer and sees every sacrifice. We are so grateful to Eddie and the people of the DR for their sacrifice – for a country suffering with chronic poverty to offer up 100 wheelchairs is a profound act of compassion, and we are grateful.

When combined with the 400 wheelchairs we believe we have currently on the ground in Haiti, the gifts from the DR will help our contacts in the region to make a significant immediate impact. Know too that we are supplying our international partners with additional wheelchairs, and will continue working to get another container into the area to aid in ongoing medical relief.

Please pray for the people of Haiti, and for those 100 disabled people in the DR who will now continue to wait as their wheelchairs travel to Port-au-Prince to bring relief to those afflicted in this crisis.

God Bless,
Don Schoendorfer
Founder and President, FWM