With almost 9000 Surfers Sunrise wheelchairs dispatched into all continents of the globe (except Antarctica), one could be forgiven for being a bit blasé... But a recent email including photo and video sent to us by Christopher Shadbolt of TTN Ministries (somewhere in Africa - sorry, will try to find out more info) brings the message home again with a thump. The email subject was 'After crawling for 35 years'. It depicts Regina, a young woman, now 39 years old, who is lame in her legs. This is Chris' response to my query about her condition:Hello Franz
I wish I could elaborate more on the condition but that reality of it is she has grown up and spent her entire life in the village so actual details are non existent. At best it’s an educated guess.
This what we know: she is 39, the surviving twin just after her twin died she became lame (her family believe it is curse); my guess is polio that is what killed her (but that) is a guess.
But what I do know is she has never had the opportunity to have wheel chair, she moves by crawling- But beyond the disability it is clear she carries the pain of shame and has low self esteem and even lower self worth.
We thank Rotary and the team, the wheel chairs are so often a start to a different life.
For us we are in the process of see what funds we can raise for Regina and we are looking to purchasing a hand powered sewing machine (we have collection of materials etc and lady willing to travel to the village to train her) plus solar panel and battery with 12 volt clippers.
In short give her the capacity to generate funds by doing hair cuts (mainly for children) and sewing.
Thanks
In His Grip
Christopher Shadbolt
I wish I could elaborate more on the condition but that reality of it is she has grown up and spent her entire life in the village so actual details are non existent. At best it’s an educated guess.
This what we know: she is 39, the surviving twin just after her twin died she became lame (her family believe it is curse); my guess is polio that is what killed her (but that) is a guess.
But what I do know is she has never had the opportunity to have wheel chair, she moves by crawling- But beyond the disability it is clear she carries the pain of shame and has low self esteem and even lower self worth.
We thank Rotary and the team, the wheel chairs are so often a start to a different life.
For us we are in the process of see what funds we can raise for Regina and we are looking to purchasing a hand powered sewing machine (we have collection of materials etc and lady willing to travel to the village to train her) plus solar panel and battery with 12 volt clippers.
In short give her the capacity to generate funds by doing hair cuts (mainly for children) and sewing.Thanks
In His Grip
Christopher Shadbolt
Des La Rance also received a 'Thank you' message from the Rotary e-Club of South Africa One (see photo on right), thanking us for our donation of 120 wheelchairs. There is little doubt that in addition to Regina mentioned in the story above, there are another 119 equally deserving disabled people whose life will have substantially improved as a result of the work of our volunteers and Associate Members who are "slaving along" every Saturday at the Project Shed.