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

LEM is pleased to present a report of its recent distribution of wheelchairs in Liberia, West Africa. During this past Christmas season, families, friends, loved ones, and the recipients rejoiced and praised the Lord for providing mobility to the disabled.

This report will focus on Little Dixon Buu.

Little Dixon Buu, now 8 years old, has been disabled since his birth.

The parents had no means of seeking medical attention for Dixon.

Little Dixon has been crawling in the dust wherever he goes around his home. Dixon’s parent had not even dreamed of any means of providing a wheelchair for him.

Dixon had the desire to move around the community and have fun with other children. Dixon had the desire to one day go to school; but the reality was so far away.

On December 26, one day after Christmas, the story changed for Little Dixon, his parents, family members and the community. I cannot hold back my tears as I  imagined the event when the parents saw as Dixon was lifted from the dust and helped into his wheelchair.

His joyful mother, (in red & black lappa-suit dress) said,

“I am happy because my son will no longer be crawling in the dust.”  

She and many others praised the Lord for this wonderful gift.

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 wasn’t 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 can’t 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 it’s 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.

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.

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.