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

Friday Wheelchair Story: I always wanted to learn...

I mentioned in the last blog that we met an amazing girl at a school. We met through our good friend Janette of Global Community Rising in Swandini. Athalia is 21 years old. She was born with extreme deformities in both her arms and legs. She never could walk, but she trained her arms and hands to do what she could around the home to help her poor family. Janette gave her a wheelchair about a year ago. Athalia’s sisters Zelda (13 years old) and Refilwe (14 years old) carried Athalia on their backs to get the wheelchair.

Athalia never attended school, as she had no way to get there. Their home is about 4 miles from the school. Athalia said “I always wanted to learn to read.” She cannot move the wheelchair alone, but fortunately she has a very loving family and community. Her sisters and friends push her back and forth to school every day.

Athalia started first grade, and has advanced to fourth grade already. She showed us how she learned to hold a pencil, using both her hands and arms. Slowly, patiently she forms each letter of her name; the result is beautiful. She was so proud to show us samples, a full page of her name, written many times in neatly formed letters. The page must have taken hours to complete. Her teachers were so proud of her.

A few months ago she was able to go on a field trip with her class to Kruger National Park. Athalia got a chance to see the animals that are so special to her country.

Laurie asked her what she wants to be when she gets out of school. “I have many dreams,” she said, “but right now I want to be an executive secretary.”

Friends, see what your support can do!

Greetings this Wednesday morning from SA.

We are all doing well. We have covered a lot of ground this trip, lots of miles on the road. It is a Mercedes van but I believe my van “Big Blue” gives a better ride. Yesterday the AC broke down. With the windows open it is a cool ride, a lot like riding a motorcycle without a helmet. And sometimes there are significant delays. (What sort of noises do you make to coax a rhino from blocking the road?)

The team is great. Every one is looking out for the others. This shot was from a home delivery of a wheelchair.

This girl’s name is Patience. She is 17 years old. She was walking well when she was only one year old, but then got a fever. Her parents got on a bus and took her to Pretoria, the nearest big city. She hasn’t walked since. Her mother said they have tried for years to get a wheelchair. Well, today was the day!

We also stopped at a school to interview an amazing girl and boy. They will be the subject of our blog for Friday, and our Friday Story as well. Here is a great photo though to pique your interest.

Greetings from Nelspruit, the fourth largest city in South Africa - Monday

We are all well and gradually adjusting to the demands of the day. There are parts that make me feel like I am on a vacation. The country is beautiful. Though we have not gone to any game parks, we see baboons, monkeys and birds and the sounds tell me this place different. We get up quite early, drive a lot in the van, and work together until it is time for bed.

Today we visited a nursing home that just received 8 more of our wheelchairs. They had 6 or so already, plus some from other organizations. They were used mainly for transporting residents within the complex. Useful for them, but we imagined others in much more need. We mentioned this to our hosts, and after a series of phone calls, they changed the direction of our trip. We drove out of Nelspruit about 30 miles to smaller city, not one with hotels and a new soccer stadium in construction, but one with very modest cinder brick and corrugated steel roof homes and dirt roads. Elliot was our local host from Nelspruit, and he grew up in this poor town.

There was no social infrastructure for the disabled. A local Rotary club built a meeting hall for the disabled. It provided a place for them to go in the daytime, to get some food, and some loving care from big-hearted volunteers in the neighborhood. Elliot assured us we would find our purpose there.

When we walked into this meeting hall, it was tough for many of us. They walls were gaily decorated, and it was clean. There were desks for those who could sit, and blankets on the cement floor for those who could not. It was well lit, but it still seemed and felt dark. Some of our team had to leave and gather strength before coming back inside. There were many tears in our team’s eyes. There were about 12 children with CP all lying in a row.

We didn’t take the time for a lot of proper introductions. Our team got right into gear. Some worked on adjusting wheelchairs, some on fitting recipients and some just loving the children. Within minutes the darkness left the room. Soon there was a parade of children pushing others, their friends from the floor, showing them things in the room they may never have seen before. It got a bit wild actually, in an intensely happy way, and this did not stop our tears.

That was what we are all about - a surprise visit to a meeting room full of disabled people. But now they have a chance for a better life.