Ambassador for Mobility: Lila Lehtola (pictured right, her friend and co-organizer Ally Ryder in the bandana on the left)

 Location: Dallas, Texas

Background:  Lila has been an active collegiate Ambassador for Free Wheelchair Mission since September 2009. She discovered the issue of global disability after her mom told her stories from a medical mission trip she went on to Honduras. She told Lila the sad stories about people crawling to the hospital, and women at the clinic with back problems from carrying their children vast distances to the clinic because their child didn’t have the wheelchair they needed. After a friend mentioned Free Wheelchair Mission, Lila and her mom researched Free Wheelchair Mission together. They felt the chairs seemed practical and cost efficient, and they decided to create a project to fund a container for Honduras and to help distribute them.

The Story: Lila is an avid athlete and runner, so she decided to hold a Walk 4 Wheels to benefit FWM. The event was held on September 17^th. Participants paid $10 to register and $15 for a t-shirt to join in the walk. There were about 40 participants, and together they raised $1,800.

Her fundraising activities have included “countless bake sales, garage sales, and what we call dress down days at our school where we pay a small fee to wear non-uniform clothes to school and the donation is then given to FWM”.  In April 2011, Lila and her mother organized a golf tournament, and was highlighted for her work for FWM. The golf tournament raised $11,600.

Lila’s Passion: “My mom told me of people she saw crawling to get to the hospital because they couldn’t walk. This utterly broke my heart because, right before I had this talk with my mom, I had gone on a run and I realized that these children could never run, even if they wanted to.”

Lives Transformed to Date: over 325

Bonus: all Walk 4 Wheels donations came in just in time to be included in FWM’s October Matching Gift Challenge!

One of our distribution partners in Bangladesh is Karmirhath, a nonprofit organization based in the northern part of the country. It was established in 1985 to cater to the needs of the very poor. In addition to their work in wheelchair distribution, it now serves the needy with a focus on eye care, diabetes, prenatal services, and pediatrics. Karmirhath is also engaged in humanitarian activities to increase the earning capacities of impoverished families, educating the teens with training in tailoring, cooking, and even livestock rearing. They recently sent us this story:

One of our recipients, Ali, is a great example of how your wheelchairs are making a difference in Bangladesh. Ali was born without the ability to walk. When he was young, his parents often carried him around, but now that he has grown larger, he has had to crawl to get around. Tragically, Ali had to have miss out on a childhood of running and playing with friends, and told us that one of the saddest parts of being disabled is that people make fun of him. He just wishes he could have a normal life.

Ali never thought that he would have the mobility he so needed to get around. Now, with a wheelchair all his own, Ali is looking forward to getting a good job, and being able to be independent and enjoy life. He is thankful to God for this blessing, and grateful to the donors that made this all possible.

It is so encouraging to see the many ways that our wheelchairs are making a difference, in Bangladesh and now in 82 countries around the world. Thanks for being a part of this mission, for people like Ali and almost 600,000 like him.

Our friend, Rich Skolburg, traveled to India last spring to see if he could track down the stories behind the wheelchairs we distribute. On his journeys, he met a man named Isaac. He shares this with us, and with you:

Life has not been easy for Isaac. Born without the use of his legs, his father told him he could not go to school, not just because he was needed at home, but because the other children would make fun of him. As a young man, Isaac worked shaping stones for use in building walls at a local quarry, until machines replaced the workers and he lost his job. Now he must rely upon the charity of others for his survival.

Isaac has no wife, parents, or children, only a sister with whom he lives. I wondered what it would be like if he could read, if he had received a formal education, if somewhere in his past a different fork of the road had been taken. He is intelligent, easy to talk to, and with strong hands that once shaped stones, now used for begging. His story was one of desperation, isolation and worry. He said what he feared most was one day being alone.

Isaac’s new wheelchair could not have come at a better time. Before the chair, his only means of transportation was hopping or scooting around, using his arms to lift his bottom and legs from the ground as he moved. Now 55 years old, his age limited his movement.

I asked him the biggest thing the chair did to change his life, and his answer saddened me. He told me he uses the chair to leave the house so that he is not in anyone’s way.

This is a story that was difficult for me to write. No matter where you are in the world or who you meet regardless of religion, creed or socio economic background, everyone yearns for human contact, for someone to have a sincere conversation with and to tell their story to. I wanted to share this because Isaac, and millions like him, has a voice never heard. I am grateful to know Isaac and I hope to see him again. I hope his story can help to get your message out and help more people like him. It is why I made the trip.

Rich Skolburg

Distribution partners are a key link in getting wheelchairs from the factory to the people that need them. Today’s story comes from Morocco, and our primary partner in the region, Gateway Medical Alliance. GMA works in a variety of medical interventions and has served the people of Morocco with wheelchair distribution since 2006; we are proud to partner with these dedicated humanitarians.

Amine is an eight year old boy that one of our local advocates brought to our attention. Struggling with mobility as a result of cerebral palsy, he was definitely in need of physical therapy, so we began giving him sessions here at our local center.

In addition, we brought him a wheelchair to enhance his mobility. Although he is able to walk slowly if someone holds both hands and stabilizes him, he falls a lot and lacks motor control over his lower limbs. Because of the wheelchair, Amine can now safely navigate his world. Most importantly, he is now able to get to school and back, allowing him to re-enroll in elementary school. There are very limited accommodations for the handicapped in Morocco; if they are not able to get to school and move in and out of the classrooms independently, the teachers just ask them to stay at home.

This gift not only gave Amine mobility around the house and with his friends, it allowed him to begin therapy and enroll again in school, thus improving his health and broadening his future. Thanks to FWM for making a difference!
Education is the most valuable way children can have a chance to pull themselves out of the cycle of poverty. But, without mobility, the classroom can be out of reach. In Morocco and around the developing world, a wheelchair can make all the difference.

Last year, one of our most exciting campaigns was our Matching Gift Challenge! It was a chance for our friends and supporters to have every dollar matched, effectively doubling their gift and sending twice the wheelchairs around the world. It was a tremendous success and very exciting!