Our Final Seating Clinic - Saving Juan - Part 1

Tomorrow morning I will be speaking with Senator Harkin about my experience in Guatemala with Wheelchairs for Kids International and will also discuss the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I don't have a plan. How do you summarize and condense down an experience that has changed your life forever?

I would love to tell him about each and every child whose life was improved because of the pediatric wheelchairs they received. I would love to tell him about how wheelchairs save lives and provide children in developing countries with opportunities to go to school, get an education, and contribute to society in the same way Americans with disabilities do here in the U.S. I would love to tell him about the social opportunities that will occur because of the children's new mobility. However, when I'm speaking with him tomorrow I know in my heart and mind I'll be thinking about little Juan..

It was our last seating clinic in Jutiapa. It was a semi-outdoor facility and we knew it would be a lot warmer than we were used to. The wheelchairs were assembled and organized by size towards the back of the room. Small tables were located in the middle of the room and they were to be used for tools and wheelchair parts. Families were taking their seats in the waiting area on the other side of the room. They watched the seating process and I wondered what was going through their minds..

I saw a young child lying on one of the air mattresses. He was very thin and frail. I asked Dick to have a look at him, but instead he walked towards another child who was also lying on a mattress.
He spoke with the child's family and went to work fitting him in a chair. I didn't want to pull him away so I waited and took some photos of other children receiving their chairs.

Eventually, little Juan was in Dick's arms. Dick was explaining to the mother that her son was a very special child and that she was a very good mother. She smiled. I could tell that  he was praying as he held Juan. He went to pick a chair for Juan so I held him in my arms. Dick said his mother was very happy that I was holding him.

I want you to close your eyes and imagine you are holding a seven year old child in your arms. Your arms would get tired quickly because a healthy weight for a 7 year old is around 45-60 lbs. As I held Juan I thought of my own children and how much they weight when they were newborns. Juan probably weighed about the same-- around 10-12 lbs. He was severely malnourished.

As people were moving about working on his chair. I held him tightly. His eyes were very dull and his breathing was labored. I tried to reposition his leg to help him be more comfortable but it was twisted and very frail.  I was afraid to move it. I spoke softly to him and said "You have angels all around you today. You need to stay strong and keep fighting to stay alive." I prayed silently and asked God to send help. 

He must have heard all of our silent prayers because I looked over and Brad was talking to some

people who looked like Americans. I went over to Brad and they were explaining that they had received a call from the town Mayor very early in the morning and he had asked them to go to the seating clinic. They were Canadian missionaries working in mountain villages where there is a lot of malnutrition.

We introduced them to Dick  and they shared that there was a malnutrition clinic just a couple of blocks away. Her son jumped in his car and went to the clinic to see if they would be willing to assess Juan.

Within minutes he had returned, and Dick, Juan's mother and brother, and the missionaries and I were walking to the clinic..


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Donations change the lives of children with disabilities all over the world. If 100 people donate just $20 each then 6-8 children will receive wheelchairs. Please visit Wheelchairs for Kids International and learn how you can make a difference; help a child go to school; play with their friends, and just be kids..

Visit: http://kidchairs4life.org/WFKIDonate.html