Back to School in Morocco!

Distribution partners are a key link in getting wheelchairs from the factory to the people that need them. Today’s story comes from Morocco, and our primary partner in the region, Gateway Medical Alliance. GMA works in a variety of medical interventions and has served the people of Morocco with wheelchair distribution since 2006; we are proud to partner with these dedicated humanitarians.

Amine is an eight year old boy that one of our local advocates brought to our attention. Struggling with mobility as a result of cerebral palsy, he was definitely in need of physical therapy, so we began giving him sessions here at our local center.

In addition, we brought him a wheelchair to enhance his mobility. Although he is able to walk slowly if someone holds both hands and stabilizes him, he falls a lot and lacks motor control over his lower limbs. Because of the wheelchair, Amine can now safely navigate his world. Most importantly, he is now able to get to school and back, allowing him to re-enroll in elementary school. There are very limited accommodations for the handicapped in Morocco; if they are not able to get to school and move in and out of the classrooms independently, the teachers just ask them to stay at home.

This gift not only gave Amine mobility around the house and with his friends, it allowed him to begin therapy and enroll again in school, thus improving his health and broadening his future. Thanks to FWM for making a difference!
Education is the most valuable way children can have a chance to pull themselves out of the cycle of poverty. But, without mobility, the classroom can be out of reach. In Morocco and around the developing world, a wheelchair can make all the difference.

The Match Is Back!

Last year, one of our most exciting campaigns was our Matching Gift Challenge! It was a chance for our friends and supporters to have every dollar matched, effectively doubling their gift and sending twice the wheelchairs around the world. It was a tremendous success and very exciting!

Well, now it’s September again, and I’m happy to share with you that the Match is Back!! Starting today, thanks to our generous benefactors who have provided the matching funds, we will again be able to double your donations. When you donate one wheelchair for $63.94, we match it to become two. Donate five wheelchairs and we match them to become ten. If we match every dollar, the Matching Gift Challenge has the power to send 5,500 wheelchairs around the world – changing 5,500 lives forever.

The Match is Back and it’s a great time to make a difference – but only if you donate before October 31, 2011. Let’s take on this challenge, make some smiles like the beautiful ones in this photo, and change thousands of lives forever.

God bless, Don

Stories and faces from Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a country of just under 7 million people located on the eastern half of the island New Guinea in the south Pacific. It’s a beautiful area and one of the world’s least explored countries; unfortunately, many of its people live in extreme poverty. Our partner in the region, the Foundation for Rural Development (FORD), has distributed over a thousand wheelchairs, and they shared with us these photos and stories:

Little Israel had meningitis due to a malaria attack when he was young. As a result, he has a weak back and has been hand held for most of life. He is seen here enjoying his first wheelchair ride.

Pawa was born a paraplegic. Now almost 25 years old, she is from Jimi, one of the most remote spots in the Western Highlands Province. It was a challenge to deliver wheelchairs to this particular location.

Ishameal was an able-bodied teenager, until lapsing into a coma at the age of 16. He was diagnosed with spinal TB and became paralyzed from the waist down. Now 22, he’s finally returned to mobility and independence.






Our partners around the world are a vital link in the chain as wheelchairs are rolled out to the people who need them the most. We are grateful to FORD and to our many partners in the field for their dedication to the cause – in 81 countries, they’re helping make a difference, lifting people with disabilities to a better tomorrow.

“...an amazing day of grace . . .opening the door to so many possibilities ahead.” - Reflections on Fishfest 2011

Thanks so much to our founder and president, Don Schoendorfer, for sharing his memories of FWM’s experience at Fishfest 2011!

Saturday, June 25^th at Irvine’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, was an extraordinary day for all of us at Free Wheelchair Mission.  As the featured charity of Fishfest 2011, we enjoyed an afternoon that spilled into evening filled with great music, brilliant sunshine, the joy of new friendships and the blessings of . . .well, those not so new!

Like most events, it was a long day, starting early as we drove the vans up the access lanes and into the venue, packed full with banners and signs and boxes of every size.  We pitched pop-ups and set up tables, assembled signs and handed out name badges, pushed wheelchairs into position, set out water bottles for the volunteers, and dragged around helium tanks for the balloons.  A long day indeed, wrapping up well past midnight as we undid all of the above, packing up the vans to head back home. 

In between all this setting up and tearing down, though, it was a picture-perfect day full of memorable moments:

• An army of volunteers in blue shirts ready to pitch in and help.
• An oasis of shade at the FWM booth, a cool welcome to passers-by.
• The sight of our colorful FWM banners spinning in the wind on a breezy day.
• Baskets of black FWM wristbands migrating to the crowds and uniting us all in a common bond.
• Music from the sound system, filling the air with praise and inspiration.
• An amphitheatre filled to the brim with over 16,000 enthusiastic concert goers
• Pastor Kenton Beshore’s powerful message from the stage, stirring the crowd and spreading the word.
• The first public reaction to our new video – “We Just Have To Go Back” – visibly touching the crowd and opening hearts and minds to the mission.
• A trail of blue balloons bobbing about, sharing our Face of the Mission cards with the concert goers, collecting hundreds of wheelchairs to send around the world.
• The inaugural launch of our “Text to Give” program – and the immediate wave of generosity that followed, raising over $1800 in the first minutes it went live.

Fishfest 2011 proved to be an amazing day of grace, as Pastor Kenton reflected, “opening the door” to so many possibilities ahead.  We are grateful to Transparent Productions and 95.9 the FISH, and thank them for sharing with us this powerful opportunity.

God Bless,    

Don

Sweet sixteen lifts six lives! – Fundraiser story from Oklahoma

Thanks so much to this proud mother for sharing an inspirational story of one person making a difference!

This year marked my daughter’s sixteenth birthday.  For almost a year, Katelin has talked about donating three wheelchairs to Free Wheelchair Mission instead of receiving gifts on her big day. So, for her Sweet 16^th,
I planned a party for all her friends.  On the invitations, I explained to the guests about FWM and how Katelin wanted to donate wheelchairs instead of receiving gifts.

Well, it was a huge success!  Several friends donated money directly to the website, enough for two chairs; at her party, ALL of her birthday cards contained money for wheelchairs!  Enough that we were able to buy four more chairs! Katelin was so excited.  Not only did her wish come true, but she doubled her goal!

My daughter is special not just for her kind and generous heart but because she is our miracle child.  Katelin has an area on her brain that causes seizures; at the age of 12, she faced the possibility of a brain surgery that could have left her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. We believe that by the power of prayer God healed her to the point that the surgery was not necessary, and Katelin has been seizure free for two years.  Some time ago, she felt the call from God leading her into mission work. My daughter feels that her efforts to raise wheelchairs for Free Wheelchair Mission are the first step in her journey and she will continue to raise money for many different mission needs.  Katelin has been a competitive cheerleader since the age of four; she only took a break for about four months even when she was facing the surgery. Now she competes, cheers at her high school, drives a car AND works with the kids in our church!

“Now my daughter will finally get a chance.” – Recipient Story from Zambia

Thanks so much to our founder and president, Don Schoendorfer, for bringing back this inspirational story from his recent travels to Zambia!

Last month, I traveled to Zambia with World Vision and three doctoral candidates enrolled in Azusa Pacific University’s physical therapy program. We delivered the first 500 of the 6,000 wheelchairs we plan to distribute over the next year in collaboration with World Vision, and developed additional video materials and training manuals for the GEN_2.  While there, we met a very special little girl:

Beauty is her name.  She is five years old.  She lives with her grandmother in the tiny village of Mwachiele.   In addition to malnutrition and possibly other developmental disabilities, Beauty suffers from club feet.  She walks on the sides of her ankles, and with each step, flashes of pain shoot across her face.  Her grandmother has carried her everywhere, taking her to a World Vision clinic about twice a month.  The possibility of getting Beauty to school each day has been out of the question.

Beauty weighs 25 pounds, which is small for most wheelchairs; however, with some simple modifications, she was very comfortable in her new GEN_2.  Her mother told us that she was intensely shy and having a dozen strangers visiting did not help.  We wanted to take Beauty’s photograph in her brand new wheelchair, but the best images we could get were of her big brown eyes.  She looked somber, but her mother recognized gladly that a world of opportunities was opening up for her daughter in the gift of a wheelchair.

“Beauty has had little ability to be part of the community or participate in any events,” she said.  “Now my daughter will finally get a chance.”

“Wheelchairs made all the difference.” – Brothers from Laos travel to Orange County this July for Magic of Mobility!

Thanks so much to our friends at Operation Blessing International in Laos for sharing this story!

On July 26^th, Free Wheelchair Mission’s Magic of Mobility will again be center stage.  Great camaraderie, good food, loads of celebration, and most of all, the coveted opportunity to meet our guest wheelchair recipient.  Every year, we host a person from a developing country that has received the transforming gift of mobility and get the chance to learn first-hand the difference a wheelchair can make.  This summer we have not one, but TWO such honored guests that will be joining us in Costa Mesa for our annual event.  Here is their story:

Through both seemed to be healthy at birth, brothers Siengmy and Siengsy Phengphachan of Laos slowly began to lose their ability to walk as they grew up.  The boys had been enrolled in the local school at the time, but the family could not afford medical attention and when they could no longer walk, they had to drop out.  The brothers were glad to have each other, but were deeply saddened at being separated from school and friends, and felt that they had become a burden to their family.

That was ten years ago.  Now 18 and 22 years old, the boys have learned to crawl to get around, tending to the garden and feeding the animals, trying to help out as much as they could.  Life has been difficult but the family never imagined their boys would each be able to have a wheelchair of their own.  Last year, though, two wheelchairs were provided through Operation Blessing International and the Christian Broadcasting Network, Free Wheelchair Mission’s partners in the region.

Wheelchairs made all the difference. They boys feel successful and happy, and less dependent upon their parents.  Newly mobilized, they have been able to return to school, empowered and enthusiastic about the road that lies ahead. 

Magic of Mobility

Hilton Orange County

July 26^th, 2011

5:30 p.m. – Doors open!  Join us for cuisine, camaraderie, and our unique silent auction.

7:45 p.m. – Program begins – featured wheelchair recipients, inspirational speakers, exciting live auction.

8:45 p.m. – Dessert and coffee

Attire:  Festive with an international flair

Tickets: $150 per person. ($175 after July 18^th)

www.freewheelchairmission.org/mom

Reply by July 18 2011 for special ticket pricing.

For more information about sponsorship, donating items, or buying tickets

contact Angela Gomez at (949) 273-8470 x208 or agomez@freewheelchairmission.org

“The world looks different without a wheelchair.” – Buy a shirt and lift a life!

Thanks to Don Schoendorfer, our founder and president, for his reflections on disability and the work we do in wheelchair provision!

For this week only, now through Monday, June 27^th, Free Wheelchair Mission will be the highlighted organization for Sevenly, a brand-new website with a new and innovative way to raise funds. Their motto is “One Tee, One Week, One Cause.”   They design a special tee shirt, offer it on their site, and donate a portion of the proceeds to the selected mission.  This is an amazing opportunity for us to share our story with a whole new audience, and we are grateful for the opportunity.

If you click on their site at http://www.sevenly.org/, you’ll see that the tee shirt they designed for us is a complete departure from anything we’ve done before – it is stark and impactful, a black shirt with bold graphics, and features the image of a young boy gazing up from the ground.  Next to the boy are the words “the world looks different without a wheelchair.” 

The world looks different without a wheelchair.

Just seven words.  But enough to give me pause from this busy life and get me thinking. What would the world look like from the ground, gazing up, reaching out, trying to make it through life without legs that worked or feet that were functional?  What would you see? What could you reach, touch, do?  Imagine your perspective if you had lived your entire life eye-level with knees, shoes, dogs, curbs, trash.  How would the world look to you?  How would it feel?

It’s hard to imagine.  Maybe impossible to truly understand. As someone gifted not just with mobility but with so many blessings, I know my perspective is terribly limited.   But having traveled in the developing world now for many years, getting the chance to meet our recipients and being honored to touch their lives in a small way, I can certainly give it a try. 

I imagine that the world would look very far away. I imagine that everyone would look very tall and be moving very fast.  I think the world might appear daunting.  Challenging.  Frightening.  Like something I could never hope to be a part of it. I wonder if I would give up hope, or begin to think I must have done something terribly wrong. I imagine more than anything else, I would be wishing that there would be someone up there that loves me, to lift me up and hold me tight, and make me feel a part of the human family. 

I imagine that life on the ground would make me feel very separate, and separate is not a feeling I believe God intended us to experience.

I’m thankful to Sevenly for making us a shirt, for sharing our message with the world, and for reminding me again why we do what we do.  After all is said and done, it always comes back to the people we serve, the ones experiencing life on the ground, and the difference that a simple chair with four wheels can make.

“A paintbrush in hand and employment within reach...” – Recipient Story from India

Thanks so much to Rich Skolburg, our volunteer photographer, for sending back this uplifting story from his travels in India!

Diabetes would claim his foot but not his will. A professional painter, Pithambaran is also a master craftsman.  Five years ago, one of his last jobs involved painting the hospital in which he is now a patient. It was one of the last projects he would complete before his health condition prevented him from working.  The road back to independence would be a long and difficult one.

When we asked Pithambaran what a new wheelchair would mean to him, he told us something surprising. One thing he liked about spending so much time in the hospital was the fact he had access to a wheelchair, a mobility and freedom he did not have at his own home. A new wheelchair could give him that luxury once again, wherever he might be.

Could he paint with a wheelchair? Yes, he believed he could, and within hours of receiving his gift he was at work on a piece of furniture there in the hospital, happy to share with us his enthusiasm. His passion for the craft had never faded and on this day like so many others, he wore the shirt with his company’s name.  He wore it proudly and insisted we get a shot of it.  His joy was clear to see, as his family and friends watched. On this day, there was something different about Pithambrum’s smile. Yes, he was smiling with happiness, but with a paint brush in hand and employment within reach, he was also smiling with pride.

The small things - Distribution Report from South Africa.

 Thanks so much to our partner in the field for this powerful, testimony straight from South Africa.

Joseph Power is 66 years old. Has had a hip replacement and is living with his family in Capricorn
Park. He needs to get to the hospital for check ups. He was in tears when he received his chair as he has been enduring a lot of pain having to walk to the clinic on crutches.  He can now move around without pain to also fetch his pension and government grant. 

 

 

 

Friday Story : "Shoes for an Angel"

Happy Friday!

I was in Bogota, Colombia, rushing around to get what I needed for a full day of wheelchair distributions.  The airlines had just delivered my lost piece of luggage, and inside I found a forgotten, tied-up grocery bag. A couple pairs of children’s shoes. It had been days since we dropped off our delivery of children’s clothes at the orphanage. What to do with these? Without an answer, I stuffed the bag into my backpack.

A few hours later I met Julia. Just fourteen, she is deaf, blind, and has cerebral palsy.  She has been carried all her life. Julia has experienced her entire world through what she could feel, taste and smell.

Her mother, Maritca, gave her constant communication and encouragement through hugs, kisses, strokes of her hair. We placed Julia in our wheelchair and she came alive with joy. She found the wheels all by herself, and when she pulled them toward her, she moved. She felt motion. She smiled, and I have to believe she smiled because she felt comfortable and secure. I reached out and took hold of her hand. Julia could tell that it was a new hand, a stranger's fingers, yet she seemed to take comfort in my coarse clumsy grasp. We held hands a long time.

Her shoe fell off so I went to work to replace it, a very tight fit. I noticed a red mark on her sock. I asked her mom about it and she showed me that under the sock was an open sore. Her shoes were way too tight.

I remembered the bag of shoes stuffed into my backpack, and ran out to the car to get them. One pair of shoes and one pair of slippers, both perfect fits for Julia!

Most of the time I don’t even try to follow the complicated paths God puts before us to accomplish these important tasks. But, today even I could see God’s plan, and along the way I got to hold hands with an angel.

"This wheelchair will help me start my first business in life." - Distribution report from Vietnam

Thanks so much to our partner in the field for this powerful, testimony straight from Vietnam.

Vo Cuong, a seventy year old man is a typical example of those who are physical imperfect by innateness or illness, and cannot easily live like other normal people. But on their face, the overflow of joy and confidence always shines.

A war accident caused him to lose his legs and one hand.

Cuong shared “I have been crawling on the ground for more than 20 years and never stop dreaming to be off the ground. I don’t care the contempt of the physical unbroken people as I do have a family like they do and I am happy as my wife and my children love me. The one thing that has been upsetting to me for years is  that I haven’t got a wheelchair to lift me up from the ground and start working to support my family like a real man in a family”.

Sitting on the new wheelchair, Vo Cuong got struggled to make the chair goes on his way. Honestly, It was so hard for him as he only had one hand to control the wheels, struggled, struggled and more struggled; eventually, we were all amazed by the talent of his curtailed arm. It was so amazing!

“Thank you for giving me this wheelchair. It is such a gift of mobility. Tomorrow this wheelchair will take me to the lottery company and help me start my first business in life. I will start selling lottery tickets tomorrow to support my family. Thank you!”

"She did not utter a word but her big tears expressed how thankful she was"-Distribution Report from Indonesia

Thanks so much to our partner in the field for this powerful, testimony straight from Indonesia.

The Wheelchair Distribution by Yayasan Pondok Kasih partnering with District Military Command held in Military Head-quarter in Surabaya, Indonesia. 

There were 26 wheel-chairs distributed. It was overwhelming to see the recipients (young, old and veterans) could not stop crying while sitting on the very chairs they needed which they could not afford. The Commander-in-chief was so thankful that Yayasan Pondok Kasih gave to military handicapped veterans. He personally came to our office to give Yayasan Pondok Kasih a award as token of appreciation. There are a lot of testimonies how the wheelchair meant for them.

10 year old Anik, could not stop crying the entire time during the distribution. She did not utter a word but her big tears expressed how thankful she was for the wheelchair. She was unable to walk since her childhood, and her mother had to carry her everywhere she went. It was a touching sight to see the reaction of the recipients. They did not only come from Surabaya, but also from the neighboring cities , such as Sidoarjo, Gresik, Madura etc. The Military announced the distributions from the radio. People came from far and near. Since this event, they held similar events in other places. It is good that it moved the military to look for the disabled in their areas.



Don's photo reflections from India

Early last month, Don took a trip to India to distribute wheelchairs and came across this man, Bashask, and his family. With bald tires and a beggar’s cup fixed to one armrest of his old wheelchair, he received a brand new wheelchair and a scholarship for his daughters to go to school.

This week, Don arrived from a second trip to India and encountered Bashask once again ... this time with his daughters off the streets and in school uniform! Don truly captured the impact of both those moments perfectly with these shots from the field!



"The girl did not wait for help to get where we were. She started crawling on her knees."- Distribution Report from Malawi

Thanks so much to our partner in the field for this powerful, testimony straight from Malawi.

Kalino Village – Malawi … We are deep in Africa’s sub-Sahara in the tiny nation of Malawi. On a world map it is almost indistinguishable, but to its 14 million inhabitants it is home. As one of the poorest nations on earth the countryside is still strewn with mud-hut villages where blacktop roads are nearly non-existent and people with disabilities find themselves helpless to get around. To those who suffer disabilities and the lack of mobility it can almost be an impossible place to live.

It was a busy day in southern Malawi. It was cool with a weak wind blowing in every direction. We were several miles east of the Namikango Mission and distributing wheelchairs. Thanks to the Malawi Project and the Free Wheelchair Mission, both from the US, we had recently received a new shipment of over 500 wheelchairs.

We distributed the first wheelchair to a boy who was born with physical challenges. His educational future was about to close down. He was unable to go to School because it had become impossible for his parents to continue to carry him 7 kilometers each way to and from school. Determined to be educated, the boy felt betrayed when he had to stay at home while the other children attended classes. But the parents had no option. They had nowhere to get help to assist them. When they heard the news about the availability of wheelchairs a relative to the boy brought to Namikango Mission a hard copy of the boy’s photo as a witness of how the boy qualifies to receive a wheelchair. It was great faith on the part of this man. He could not bring the boy such a great distance to the Mission, but he thought of bringing the photo. When the wheelchair was made available to him he was unable to take it 31 kilometers to the boy’s home. Arrangement were made to deliver the wheelchair Upon receiving the means for the boy to be able to go to school the parents expressed their gratitude to the Wheelchair Mission and the Malawi Project for the donation. ”We did not expect this. We just say thank you for the help,” the Father said.

Before the truck could leave for the return trip to the mission, a tired, sweat covered man rushed up. “Only if possible, please help! There’s another girl, she is on the way, and she needs your help”.  The man continued speaking rapidly, not even taking the time to compose himself and present a detailed message. Later, it was learned that he had met a girl who heard that we brought wheelchairs to a nearby village. The girl did not wait for help to get where we were. She started crawling on her knees. After crawled for several meters she could not get past the rocks spread out in front of her. She sat down. It was here where she met the man who advised her to wait there. The man ran to tell us about Patuma Masautso. Thankfully there was one wheelchair remaining.

The truck changed course to meet Patuma Masautso, and to learn more about her. She is from Kalino Village, in the southeastern district of Zomba. She is a Yao by tribe. Due to her mobility problems, Patuma has never gone to school. She does not know how old she is, but thinks she might be around 18 years of age. According to her, if she had a chance to have had a wheelchair years ago, she would have had a chance to learn at school and become a nurse. However, even though it had taken this long she expressed happiness because she will from now be able to comfortably move on a wheelchair. “I was feeling pain in my knees when I crawl for a long time”. Patuma was born with her legs bent backwards from the knees. She had never been able to use them for anything except to crawl on the helpless bruised knees.

Having accomplished our mission we returned to Namikango. It was evident what a wheelchair can do for a person in a remote Malawian Village who has no hope, no plans, and no anticipation to ever own a wheelchair up until just today. Now it is all different.

"The LRA had run over her multiple times with a vehicle, leaving her for dead." - Reflections from Uganda

Doreen was a victim of the civil war there when she was a young child and the LRA had run over her multiple times with a vehicle, leaving her for dead.

Rachel and I went to visit Doreen in the 2 room hut where she lives with her mother who takes care of her.  As a result of her ordeal with the LRA Doreen has no joints and cannot bend her arms or legs. But, she has the joy of the Lord.  She leads the choir at her church and children living nearby come to her house where she teaches them how to read, along with some science and other subjects. She is an amazing girl.

As we were visiting with her and her mother I happened to look in the corner of the room and there was a Free Wheelchair.  I got so excited and I took pictures of it and told her that we were familiar with the organization.  She has had it for a couple of years and it has changed her life and allowed her to leave her hut - something she wasn't able to do before.

It was a huge blessing to unexpectedly  see firsthand how your organization is reaching far into the world.  It was one thing to watch your video and be touched by what I saw, but it didn't compare to seeing it up close and personal.

Cathy and Doreen

Rachel and Doreen

Blessings to you,

Cathy

-Parkcrest Church.

 

 

A precious smile, a simple testimony...Distribution report from Honduras.

Thanks so much to our partner in the field for this powerful, testimony straight from Honduras.

Nestor lives in  San Francisco del Valle, Ocotepeque, is 25 years old and cannot walk because of cerebral palsy.  His mother has not been able to carry him because of his size and has kept him in bed to care for him.  Now that they have been blessed with the wheelchair he can be sat up and taken outside.

"He was a great and very populate dancer in his community..."-Distribution Report from Haiti

Thanks so much to our partner in the field for this powerful, testimony straight from Haiti

Job Mazenard, a man with plenty dreams, is living in Haiti. Specifically in Thomassique.He is 38 years old. When  I first met him he was in a restaurant where I went to eat. I saw him singing for people inside of the restaurant , he had a special voice , a voice that could transcend souls. After the show I went through him to congratulate him and started  to have with a little conversation that could help to know his story.

Before the earthquake He was a great and very populate dancer in his community. He started to sing and dance at 7 years old He inspired joy and happiness to people around him and people that used to see  him dancing to music. He could've never imagined that a day would be so tragic for him…That day, In the earthquake January twelve last year in Haiti,Where his house collapsed with him, his wife and his son. He would die as the two others, but great to the lord someone came and saved him. He was alive but unfortunately his foot was blocked under the rubble, they were obligated to cut it. No need to tell how Pain, sadness took possession of his heart and his whole body.

Life is done with good and bad part, so this is the worst  thing that could happen to Job Since then he ‘s living with his handicap, he could still sing but he couldn’t dance anymore. Moving was very difficult to him, until he received a wheelchair from Free wheelchair Mission. Even if he can’t work anymore, he still has a wheelchair to move around without any one's help.

Now he’s very happy to know that someone, a group somewhere in the world is thinking about him about people living with handicaps in Haiti.

"Later she was found again laying in the city gutter...." Distribution Report from Liberia

Thanks so much to our partner in the field for this powerful, testimony straight from Liberia

Sarah Zarwye is 13 years old. Sarah is completely helpless and can do nothing for herself. Her arms and legs are very skinny and her joints are twisted and rigid. As I stood and looked at her, I couldn't imagine how her body could even be alive. To me it looked like there was little or no tissue between the bone and the skin. Talking, for her, takes major effort but in spite of it she managed to give a big smile and say "Thank-You, God!!"

At age three she was abandoned during the war, and was first found laying in a coconut plantation in Ivory Coast. Later she was found again laying in the city gutter. A Christian lady working in a hotel saw people looking in the gutter and went to see what it was and found little Sarah (muddy and covered with fire ants.) She was then taken to the police station but was released without a home. Somehow over the course of time she came to live at Life Village Orphanage in Monrovia, Liberia where she lives with 50 other orphans.

 

"Now, I love my work so much..." Distribution Report from Vietnam!

 

Thanks so much to our partner in the field for this powerful, testimony straight from Vietnam.

Ms. Vuong Kim Tuyen's ability to get around has depended on a homemade wheelchair that her father made for her, or by her family’s help. I asked her gently the reason she is not able to walk. She spoke with some difficulty how she was born with birth defects. As a result, she is not able to walk and can only speak with difficulty.

Her father talked with me, saying, “I was a soldier and during the war, I was exposed to the toxins of Agent Orange. Because of that, my daughter’s condition is a genetic result of that exposure to Agent Orange. She faces many difficulties in her ability to move and speak”. At this point, her father’s face saddened, I’m sure because he felt sorry for his daughter. She said that her family took her to some hospitals but her condition did not improve. She told me that, “I used to be very sad and scared of going out and meeting other people. But, due to my family’s encouragement and help from The Association for the Support of Vietnamese Handicapped and Orphans, I was given training and a job working in a clothing company. I was also taught a skill of how to make artificial flowers.  Now, I love my work so much, plus I feel confident and comfortable in meeting people”. Her father said proudly that she is very skillful and good at making artificial flowers and clothes. I am very happy for her and understand how much her effort was to overcome her disabilities, and how much she loves her work.

With tears running down her cheek she expressed sincere gratitude to the sponsors, for presenting her with a wheelchair. Before I left her side, she shared with me her desire to establish an artificial flower company to create jobs for other physically challenged people just like herself.

With her determination and motivation, I am sure that her dream will come true in the near future!

Another Door Has Opened

Thanks so much to our partner in the field for this powerful, testimony straight from Malawi.

Nkhota Bay, Malawi … This report comes from northern Malawi near the big lake, Lake Malawi. This lake is the 12^th largest fresh water lake in the world. Nkhota Bay is situated east of the capital of the northern part of Malawi, Mzuzu, and sits beside the lake in the Nkhota District. This district in the far northern part of the nation, while the Namikango Mission is deep in the southern part of the nation.

Nkhota Bay is the home of sixty-year-old L. Chimota, a physically challenged man whose legs became paralyzed when he was seven years of age. The illness that followed was unknown to him. The only thing he knew was that he would henceforth craw in the dust, or be carried by his relatives.

When he grew up he moved to Mzuzu City in search of some sort of opportunities.

“Unlike many physically challenged people who stand around near big shops in town waiting for a hand out, Chimota spends his days beside the buildings at the Shopping Center’s veranda sewing and patching-up people’s worn out clothes for his food and wages. Quite to the contrary, instead of waiting for help, he amazingly extends his hand to reach out to others who need help. He was just born a hard worker,” Yunusu Mataka explained about him. Mataka works at the Namikango Mission in Thondwe, and it was he who took the wheelchair on the long trip north in order to deliver it to Chimota.

Mataka continues his report, “In 2009 his wheelchair was broken beyond repair. This rendered the big man destitute. As the family’s breadwinner, Chimota experienced and was forced to spend some of the little money he could make daily to board a bus to and from work. Efforts to find assistance from organizations such as Malawi Against Polio (MAP) and MACOHA to obtain a wheelchair proved futile. They all had no wheelchair in stock to help him with. At MAP northern region headquarters, his request just piled up in a large group of requests. He was told MAP only had pieces of broken wheelchairs that could cost over MK30,000.00. That would be equal to $200.00 American dollars. He couldn’t raise that much. He gave up.

However, that wasn’t the end of him. God opened another door through the Malawi Project Inc., in corroboration with the Free Wheelchair Mission. They jointly shipped a new wheelchair for the old man to use.  When the wheelchair arrived at the Namikango Mission, one of the workers, knowing the predicament of Mr. L Chimoto ensured that he would benefit. He took the wheelchair for the long journey north just so the old man would be able to move, work and help his family.

As Chimota watched Yunusu Mataka leave that day for the return trip to Namikango, his life had witnessed God’s Hand opening another door for him and his future. He can now go to his business and make a little money for his family’s survival. He can go to the church and worship. He can once again go out and chat with his friends. As he smiles, Chimota has been assured of the caring Hand of God.

- Wilson Tembo and Richard Stephens

"He was the sole breadwinner in his family..." Distribution Report from India!

Thanks so much to our partner in the field for this powerful, testimony straight from India.

Irshadkhan lived with his parents in a small village in the state of Gujrat. He used to be construction labourer before he lost his legs. He was the sole breadwinner in his family. Six month ago, while working on a site, a wall suddenly collapsed on him. He suffered serious injuries on his spinal cord. Despite of an operation, Irshad was unable able to walk. To add to the tragedy, the accident occurred only a few months after he got married. His wife left him few days after the accident.

His friends and family helped Irshad in his difficult time. Sometime they would take him out of the house. He had difficulty going the toilet and completing other daily works. He hated that he was so dependable on others and could not serve and care for his parents.

Since Manav Sadhna gave him the wheelchair, Irshad has been feeling more hopeful about life. With the wheelchair, he has more independence and can go about his daily activities. He sends his blessings to the Wheelchair Mission for giving him the gift of mobility and hope.

Support Report!! Allison’s Personal Crusade

Working at Free Wheelchair Mission provides us with the incredible blessing of helping others be lifted off the ground, but sometimes we forget how special the mission of FWM really is because we see it on a daily basis…and then we come across someone like Allison.

Allison is someone who uses a wheelchair, she found out about us and decided, entirely on her own, to raise money to help provide mobility for the disabled poor in developing countries. Watching her video is an inspiration to all, especially in a country where it’s so easy to take things for granted.

Thank you Allison for your courage and heart for others!

http://www.crowdrise.com/freewheels/fundraiser/SREAT

"Minister in Capital City Receives Wheelchair." Distribution Report from Malawi

Thanks so much to our partner in the field for this powerful, testimony straight from Malawi.

Mr. Makhuwila is a religious leader on the northwest side of the City of Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. Recently he lost the use of his legs. Even though he lives in the largest city in this poverty-ravished nation it does not help him get around in order to carry out his ministerial duties. Streets are without sidewalks. Many of the streets are little more than pothole, laced dirt paths. Cars have a difficult time negotiating these corridors, let alone someone in a wheelchair. And wheelchairs, there are very few wheelchairs, and very few people have the funds with which to purchase one. The poor are everywhere, and the need for wheelchairs finds unimaginable numbers of people waiting for every wheelchair that makes its way into this forgotten part of the world. With only a single orthopedic hospital in the country there is little that can be done for the large numbers of people who are handicapped. For Mr. Makhuwila there was little that could change his hopeless situation after he joined the position of the handicapped.

Mr. Makhuwila expresses his appreciation to the Malawi Project, and in turn to all of these groups, for the wheel chair. He was overwhelmed with joy with his wheelchair. He said, “I am very happy because the Malawi Project, through Mama Kadzamira has come to my rescue. I was unable to move around during the past six months. They have now given me a wheelchair that will enable me to move around and continue pursuing my pastoral work among people of Area 25. I thank the Lord for his mercy and the gift of the wheel chair. May God bless the Malawi Project, and Dzidalire Community Development Agency.”