Would You Forego that Expensive Handbag to Give a Child a Wheelchair?

It has been an exciting few months!! I was asked to join the Board of Directors for Wheelchairs for Kids International and I accepted! My heart and energy was already fully committed to the organization so I didn't feel the overwhelming urge to jump in and start working on doing things that would help us achieve our goal; I was already doing that. But there was one thing I knew I had to do - get our CEO and Founder, Brad Blauser, to Washington, DC! We had to network with individuals and champions from the national and international disability community and ask them for guidance, and referrals to individuals that they thought could help us in our quest to help children with disabilities in developing countries. We decided that the week of the 24th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) would be the most opportune time to accomplish our networking goal and we were right.

Brad with Senator Harkin

Last week we attended The American Association of People with Disabilities' (AAPD) ADA Anniversary event on the rooftop of a building that overlooked the U.S. Capitol building and met some incredible advocates! It was exhilarating to be in the same space with them - people that helped draft U.S. laws that have changed the lives of Americans with disabilities. People who protested inside the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (now the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) to the get the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 passed and who participated in the Capitol Crawl in 1990 and yelled, "ADA NOW!" Because of their efforts, Americans with disabilities are free to have a name, have their birth registered, have rights as citizens, move around independently, and live and work in the community without discrimination. We have the same goals for individuals with disabilities in other countries. For us, it begins with giving a child a wheelchair so that they can get out of isolation, have the opportunity to go to school and lead productive lives. Without a chair, it is difficult to advocate for yourself and others

Yesterday, we met the friend-of-a-friend from overseas at the mall in Tysons Corner. The mall was huge and very overwhelming for me. I gravitated towards the tech stores and the outdoor adventure stores that had cool things that would make our lives more comfortable when traveling to distribute wheelchairs (e.g. mosquito nets). We walked through a department store and I saw a group of women practically drooling over some handbags. They loved them so much that they actually stood in a group and asked the sales women to take their photos with them. Crazy, huh?! After they left I walked over to the bags they were posing with and checked out the price tag-- $400!!! I wondered how long the bag would be used and thought about how quickly fashion changes and it would be tossed to the side and replaced with another bag that probably cost $400 or more. I wanted to lay a few of our business cards beside the bags and in the bags with hopes that perhaps they would find them and choose to give the gift of a child's wheelchair and change their lives instead of buying a bag that would only momentarily satisfy them. I knew the store would quickly scoop them up and throw them in the trash. I decided instead to take a photo of the bag and put it on Facebook along with statement.  I received so many positive comments that I decided to take it one step further and start a campaign...

If you are reading my blog then please take a moment copy the above image and post it on all of your social media outlets. You are welcome to share the link to my blog too. Just imagine how many wheelchairs we could give children if every woman made the choice today to forego buying an expensive handbag and instead chose to give the gift of $300 to cover the cost of a quality pediatric wheelchair that will help a child achieve independence for years to come.

Please help me make my message go viral!!

Visit http://www.KidChairs4Life.org and donate!

All About Brad

I'm glad I went on the mission to Guatemala with Wheelchairs for Kids International. It was a life-changing experience. I'm ready to go again even although it has been several weeks already since we returned.

There's an amazing thing that happens when you watch a child smile from ear-to-ear because they finally have a set of wheels that will drastically change their lives-- the neighborhood kids think they're super cool, they're now independent and free from the isolation that many children with disabilities experience.

My prayers these days are for (1) Juan, and (2) for the Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities to pass in the U.S. Senate this year, and (3) for USAID, other U.S. companies and foundations (e.g. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), and  international human rights organizations to realize that it won't do any good for countries to create curb cuts and make their buildings accessible if their kids and adults don't have access to wheelchairs. Funding non-profits like Wheelchairs for Kids International is one of the first steps the U.S. should take when they finally do ratify. We can help countries all day long by sharing our knowledge and experience but we won't be helping anyone with physical disabilities in developing countries if they can't get a wheelchair first. We can do this..
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Brad Blauser



Brad Blauser in Antigua, Guatemala

Before I actually met Brad we had talked on the phone and chatted online about his non-profit. I knew he was a good man because of his work in Iraq providing wheelchairs to children. And, I knew he was a risk-taker because he went to Iraq as a contractor. 

You're probably wondering why I'm writing about him? Why was getting to know him important?

If I was a potential donor then I would want to know about the non-profit, it's history, and it's founder and executive director. Is this an entrepreneur who invests a little time and effort into something and then hands it over? I've seen plenty of those come and go! Or, it is a passionate advocate who works night and day to make a difference? I also want to know if the money donated will actually go to children with disabilities who need wheelchairs or will most of it go towards administrative costs, hired expensive professional fundraisers and marketing?

Brad falls in the latter category -- he's a passionate advocate. You have to respect a man who witnesses or hears about an injustice and takes action. This is one of the characteristics of an advocate -- you have the experience, you cry/pray/meditate, and you give 100% of your time, expertise, and energy (even if it takes years) toward fixing it. It's how I got started as an advocate and why I'm still working on issues that were important to me 20 years ago. You don't give up. You may need to make some adjustments but you stay the course.

Will your donations go towards purchasing and providing pediatric wheelchairs? Absolutely.



Brad spoke a lot about his experiences in Iraq as a contractor and also about the wheelchair distributions and special children and families that he met that I could tell meant lot to him. His life was changed by the experience. He could've easily have arranged for the wheelchairs to be brought over and just given them to the local authorities but he wanted to make sure they got to the Iraqi children. He risked his life to make sure that happened. Iraq was a dangerous place. You couldn't give advance notice that you were going to a town to do a seating clinic because the enemy would know and plan to bomb or ambush the distribution. Seating clinics had to be conducted quickly because news spread fast. How many  advocates can say they risked their life to make sure a child received what they needed? I know I can't. This is why Brad was nominated as the 2009 CNN Hero.

I think I made a friend for life when I met Brad. He's one of the people I'd want in my life raft or my fox hole. He has all the principles and values that I respect -- honor (personal integrity), courage, and commitment. It's never about him and always about the children. God chose well when he picked Brad, and his Mum (a Southern Gem!) must've done one heck of a job raising him to be such a wonderful compassionate person.

Please consider donating and volunteering a little of your time towards helping Wheelchairs for Kids International provide wheelchairs for children with disabilities who spend their life on the floor crawling or being carried.



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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

All About Dick

I wasn't sure who Dick Rutgers was when I climbed into his sweet high tech SUV with Brad and Lea Ann. I just knew this older American guy was heading in the same direction as the Chicken Bus and was a part of the Guatemalan team. He was wearing a pair of weathered jeans and a Hope Haven polo-shirt. I felt safe in the SUV with Dick driving because Brad was with us and he's everyone's big brother, right? [The mistake I made was that I forgot that Brad had gone through some hairy stuff in Iraq, so how he gauges danger is a little different than the rest of us. There were times when I wanted to let out a mighty squeal on the accessible bus, and in Dick's SUV.. and Brad would just sit up front and laugh.]

It wasn't long before Dick shared his story.. He came to Guatemala about 15 years or so ago on a mission to provide pediatric wheelchairs, just like the one we were on, and decided he wanted to stay in Guatemala. Every day he shares the love of Jesus in various ways-- he builds homes, he feeds the hungry, and he helps find Guatemalan children sponsors so that they can go to school and get an education. Every night he said he goes home to 15 hungry children. He's been a loving father to probably hundreds of children since he's been  in Guatemala. He blogs about his life journey and was featured in The Culture that Crawls  documentary.

Dick is like Brad in that he has years of experience seating children with the most complex disabilities into wheelchairs. There are many very special children, severely malnourished like little Juan, that have lived to see another day because of Dick's intervention. 




It was an honor to watch Dick provide instructions to the OT and PT students, talk to parents, hold children in his arms, and work on finding the best chair for each child during the last two seating clinics. He was incredibly patient, and even at the end of the day when you could tell he was exhausted, he was still smiling, and happy that the team had changed children's lives that day.

I'm not sure if it was the fun rainbow suspenders he wore or his lovely white beard but kids adored him. However, under all that cuddliness I could see there was a fighting spirit.  I see that spirit in many of the very best advocates -- we see something awful, you may or may not see us cry about it, but then we pray and channel all of our feelings into action, and you'd better help or move out of our way..

Dick is an amazing man. If you ever decide to go to Hope Haven to help go on seating clinics then I "hope" he's on the trip with you. You will learn from one of the best. Just don't let him tell you about his crazy encounters with bandits!! And if he says there's a short cut he knows then opt for the much longer route! :-)

Wheelchairs for Kids International -NEW Video!!

Please take a moment to enjoy this new Wheelchairs for Kids International video! Learn how you can make a difference in the life of a child with a disability!

 

 

Our Final Seating Clinic - Saving Juan - Part 2

It was a short walk to the clinic. The Nuns were waiting for us when we arrived. Dick took Juan out of his new wheelchair carefully and carried him inside. It was a relief for all of us to get out of the heat. I was worried that Juan wasn't taking in enough fluids.

I think it's best not have any expectations when you go into situations like this. I tried to stay out of the way and wait for someone to tell me whether or not Juan would stay at the clinic.





I asked permission to take photos as I was walking around the room. It reminded me of orphanages I had heard about and seen photographs of in Europe. It was a relief to see the children physically healthy, and they seemed relatively happy to see us ,while others snoozed.





There was one young child who had a noticeable disability. He was blind and had at one point one of the worst cases of cleft palate the Nuns had ever seen. He had been there for several years and his cleft palate was repaired. He bounced around in his crib and threw his cup towards me demanding agua (water). There was a collage of photos on the wall in the hallway that charted his progress since he arrived.

I had a million questions. I wanted to know if his parents were still visiting him; if he was being taught Braille; if he was receiving any tactile stimulation.. If Americans could adopt children from Guatemala then Marquitos would have been at the top of my list if he was an orphan. Unfortunately, Guatemala has suspended international adoptions. Please read here to learn more..

After visiting with the children we sat in the common area. Rita, the Canadian Missionary, played with a young girl who had some hair loss from malnutrition. She was a cutie and soaked up the attention she was getting from Rita.




Juan's mother decided not to leave Juan at the clinic but promised she would return on Monday after she spoke with her husband. As we returned to the seating clinic with Juan we decided to send Juan's mother home with vitamins. I asked the Canadian missionary to take me to a store where I could purchase the food Juan required. After the third try we managed to get their only remaining few packages of a runny oatmeal substance that is high in nutrients and good for children with malnutrition.

I gave the family's social worker a few hundred quetzals to purchase food for Juan. No one was sure the mother would return with the child. Sadly, we learned from the social worker that there are 20 more children just like Juan in Comapa, which is the village he came from. The village is supposed to be sponsored by World Vision.

A few days after I returned home I contacted World Vision. They responded yesterday and provided the contact information for their Guatemalan office. If you're reading this blog then please consider contacting them -- the louder the voice; the more responsive they will be (it's the advocate in me-- I can't help it!).

Good News & Prayers Answered!!

I received an email from the Canadian missionary and Juan is staying at the malnutrition clinic and receiving the care he needs. Please consider sending a donation to help with his recovery, and the recovery of many other children like him. I am looking forward to lots of photographs in the future of a happy and healthy Juan using his new pediatric wheelchair!!

Return soon for my next blog post -- "All About Dick.." 

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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

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

I Began My Day with a Conversation with God..

I began my morning with a  heartfelt conversation with God. I went to the Chapel. No one was there so I sat on the stairs and made myself comfortable. I prayed and asked God to provide the workers at the clinic with the skills and knowledge to make the most perfect chair for each child. I also prayed for the children--that these wheelchairs would change their lives and give them opportunities that they have never experienced before, such as going to school, playing outside, and attending church services.

I experienced tears of joy today because there was a 10 year old boy, who for the first time, through the use of his new wheelchair was able to move on his own. His mother experienced the same joy that any mother would feel watching their son crawling or walking for the first time; she had tears of joy too. It was a beautiful moment and I'm grateful I was there to witness it.

It is difficult to imagine a 2 year old child being smaller than any of my three children when they were born.

A mother with 4 children came to the seating clinic in Jalapa. I had gone outside the clinic where people were waiting and saw the children. I gave each child a small toy. There was such sadness in their eyes.



I never once thought that the infant she was holding in her arms was 2 years old. I asked why the child was so small and the response was "malnutrition." I heard her town Mayor plans to give her some chicken to help her. I'm pretty sure she needs much more than chickens but it's a start.

Lea Ann said there were children with conditions that OT and PTs may only see once in their careers at the last two clinics.  Her students will be far more advanced than other students because of their experiences fitting these children into their perfect chairs. Several children had signs of congenital and neuromuscular scoliosis. None of these children had received the necessary surgery or physical therapy, and as a result, they had permanent spine and nerve damage. There was also an unusual number of children who had dystonia.


I was able to meet and have my photo taken with the child I donated a wheelchair to. Her name is Diana and she's cute a button! I loved her lovely wee dress and pink shoes! You could tell she loved them too and her new chair!! Words cannot express fully the pure joy that I felt meeting her.

The family we visited the day before arrived at the clinic. His sister received a wheelchair and Dick and his team of students worked with her brother, Ody.

Ody was struggling with being
out of his home. The stress was too much for him and he had multiple seizures. Dick had him moved to a quieter room across the courtyard and it appeared to help. By the end of the day, Ody had his sister, Kenia, had their wheelchairs and their parents were so happy!





There were people of all ages who came to the clinic to receive a wheelchair. The town arranged for a clown to entertain everyone. The clown and music was fun but the work had to go on. It wasn't long before the clown jumped in and began helping!




Here are some of my favorite photos from the seating clinic in Jalapa..  I hope you enjoy them.