Susan Shaw is our wheelchair ambassador to Fiji, and driven by her passion, we have provided 2750 wheelchairs to that country. This is a story she wrote on her last mission there:
Fiji is not the easiest country for wheelchair distribution. With over 300 islands and mostly village dwellers with no transportation, we must travel to the recipients to deliver the chairs. They cannot make it to us.
On our last trip, we had a special trip planned to go deep into the interior of the island to deliver chairs to a village beside a river. We loaded 7 wheelchairs on the truck and traveled 3 1/2 hrs. into the mountains. The only way to visit the village is to walk across the river. I could tell this Fijian village was clearly poor. The river provided these people their water for drinking and cleaning. The clothing hanging on the lines were tattered and very old.
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We were delivering a couple of wheelchairs when some boys approached us telling us that there was a young man in one of the houses. We walked inside, and after a few minutes, some men emerged from behind a dark curtain carrying Josefa, a young man in his 20's. He was bent over 90 degrees and clearly unable to stand. He wasn't expecting us, and as we took him outside, we learned that he had crippling arthritis. He covered his rottinghands with his shirt so we couldn't see his disfigurement. He was extremely articulate - educated in the capital city with much promise for his future. Lacking funds and proper medical care, this was his prison.
How many other worthy children of God are hiding behind dark curtains? It is my hope, that through the efforts of myself, our heroes in Fiji and the generosity of donors to the Free Wheelchair Mission, that we will bring them out of their darkness into the light. Their gift is not only the wheelchair, but, the gift of love that they receive from strangers – from us, from far far away. The reward is huge for all. |
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- One container arrived in India, two in the Philippines and three in Viet Nam.
- Ten containers are in route, 8 waiting to ship, and twenty eight in production.
- Southern California Edison Vietnamese Affiliation had a fundraiser Jan. 25 in Little Saigon. Edison matched funds collected from the Vietnamese/Cambodian community for wheelchairs going to these two countries. Our MC was Los Angeles’ own Leyna Nguyen of KCBS (Channel 2) and KCAL (Channel 9). With Edison’s match, $42,000 was collected!
- Don’t forget this is Run for Mobility weekend. Support our fundraisers!. Come to our dinner. Join this movement. Let’s hear from you! Runformobility.org