Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Wheelchair inflames the thirst to live in a mother’s heart.

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

I will spend the rest of my life to travel to look for my son, the poor old woman said to me with her smiley eyes which rised up my incident curiosity.

More questions were made during her confidence. Her name is Huynh Thi Phuong, 71 years old. She has three sons but living alone right now. Her eldest son died in his teenage years for heart disease. The second one died six years ago also with the same reason. The old poor mother shared while her hands kept wiping the tears fighting to fall down on her weather-beaten face. My youngest son is the only reason keeps me to live this life. The sorrow of time after time watching my dear children leaving seemed to kill me but I wasnt satisfied to leave my youngest boy lived his invalid life lonely to death. My son is 27. He is born with cerebral palsy. He cannot talk properly but can walk limpingly. He also has mental problem so he forgets me sometimes. I cant count how many times he left home and I had to strenuously to find him. Last year he left home again. I had to go everywhere to look for him. One day while I was wandering on a street looking on every single of its alleys like a crazy person to look for my son, I got hit by a motorbike and my kneecaps broke. I cannot walk properly since the accident.  Over a month lying on the hospital bed I have tried to kill myself many times but not successful. Following the advice of the doctors and the kind patients in the same room I decided to carry on to keep looking for my little son. After leaving the hospital I tried to practise walking everyday with a feeble hope as my old age makes my bone unable to get a good recovery. Lately, people in the village told me there would be some charitable organization coming to give wheelchairs for free has inflamed the thirst of living in my heart. With a wheelchair I will keep travel to look for my son.

Thank you very much for such meaningful and giant help of your organization.

It is so moved by the example of a piteous mother lives and dies for her children. And its so proud to know that our wheelchair has become a real gift of mobility and a fellow-traveler to take the poor miserable mother on over her road to look for her missing child. I said good luck to the woman, gave her a big hug and my number so that she can call to let me know when she finds her son.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

GEN_2 Distribution Report from Vietnam!

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

The first day of the wheel chair Gen-2 distribution has brought me a uncanny eagerness with different emotions when I listened to the confidences of the recipients.

Finishing the interview with the old woman I suddenly met with a very beautiful smile of a young boy. I thought he was just about 6 or 7 years but he was actually 10.
I said Hello to the boy when he was even giving me a bigger smile and turned it into
a real big laugh.

Speaking lispingly with an innocent face, the boy told me

“I love wheel chair. I love going out with brother and friends”.

The face with full of excitement of the boy made my heart became so heavy and hurt.
Looking to my side, Chanh’s mother Phan with a face of tears told me

“His limbs are paralyzed but his brain is not. He understands everything. He knows how hard I am trying to take care of our little family. He loves going to school like other children but never tells me because he knows I cannot afford it. I’m just a poor single mother with two children. My two children, my 80 year -old mother and I have been living with a very small income from the farming work. In 2005 Chanh had a wheelchair from a charitable organization but it was broken after 2 years. 2007 he had the second one and it also got broke. I am so poor that I can’t buy him a new one so over a year now he has been longing for this chance.

Chan is a very good boy. Although he is disabled, he never forgets that he is the oldest son in the family. He always takes the initiative in doing everything he can manually do to help me like feeding himself, toileting and chasing chickens from eating our drying rice.

I wish my team could do more to help her but our ability is limited. So I just hoped the wheelchair would at least help her son to do what he has been longing to over the past year. And I know it surely does when I saw the boy with full excitement on his new chair.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

A Moment For Haiti

Free Wheelchair Mission wishes to take this moment to honor the people of Haiti.  On the anniversary of the quake that so profoundly impacted the future of this island nation, we recognize, admire, and applaud the courage and fortitude of the Haitian people. We humbly pledge to continue ongoing support of healing and recovery efforts through the transforming gift of mobility, now and in the years to come.