“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.