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A More Wonderful Life with a Wheelchair

Walking, a natural capability of most people, is becoming an unrealized hope for those with disabled legs. For many years, I was unable to use my arms while walking because I was dependent upon two canes. This made me uncomfortable and caused me embarrassment while walking with other people, who are at a loss about how to help.

A red wheelchair, as a special birthday gift, came into my life in May, 2006. At first, I was bashful and was not used to sitting in the wheelchair while being pushed by my husband. But then I was wild with a joy that I have never felt – I can shop with my husband on city streets and shopping malls while sitting in the wheelchair, I can do everything more efficiently, and I am not worried about the danger of slipping and falling anymore.

In June, 2007, the wheelchair gave me an unprecedented and unforgettable experience as I sat in the wheelchair and rolled onto the Liaoning Theater’s stage to participate in the performance of the closing song at a televised charity event.

In January, 2008, I was honored to be a deputy to the Provincial People’s Congress. Sitting in the red wheelchair, I attended the 11th Liaoning Provincial People’s Congress and was the only disabled deputy. This fact received major attention from the media. I also received much goodwill from others attending.

In August, 2008, sitting in the wheelchair, I traveled to Beijing by train to the Olympics Center and the Beijing National Stadium to watch the Paralympics Games with friends from all over the world. This fantastic experience will forever be my most precious memory!

In my regular life, I do housework in my wheelchair and walk my beloved dog in the morning. My dog pulls the wheelchair along as he runs!

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A Letter from Gao Shan

My name is Gao Shan, and I am 26 years old. Tragically, I incurred a leg disability due to the complications of my illness and the lack of timely treatment when I suffered from rheumatism at the age of 14. Having lost my ability to walk, I can’t take care of myself and I totally depend on my mother’s help. The only thing I can do is to stay in bed all day long and wait for her help. During the years of my illness, my mother transported me from one doctor to another for better medical treatment and depleted all of the family’s savings. The consequences were disappointing. My condition remains the same, and there is no change for the better. I am still disabled.

My mother has no more tears to cry while facing the penniless family and the unpromising disabled child. The door of my world has been closed firmly, for I have never been outside of my house, except for visits to the doctor, since my illness set in. An ordinary wheelchair is strongly desired by me and by my mother. I really miss the fresh air outdoors, the warm bright sunshine, and the flowing gentle breezes. I am eager for a wheelchair ride with my dear mother alongside me to talk with her, laugh together, and comfort her under the pleasing weather. But to a family in debt after paying treatment fees, a wheelchair has become a luxury out of reach.

At the moment we gave up all hope, the Heping District Disabled Persons’ Federation brought a piece of good news. They informed us that the Wheelchair Foundation would be visiting Shenyang to donate wheelchairs to the disadvantaged, giving them mobility, freedom and hope.

The next day, I was invited to participate in the donation and distribution ceremony at the City Square. I was so happy to be given the chance to address everyone on behalf of all the handicapped people and express our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude while sitting in my own wheelchair. To us, the wheelchair is our legs, enabling us to get out of the house and witness Shenyang’s huge changes and prosperity, and to enjoy the beauty of nature under the blue sky, which undoubtedly is good for our physical and mental health.

I would like to thank the Wheelchair Foundation’s charity and generosity which will encourage to me to face the future with a brighter heart and more optimism. I believe the world will become more and more wonderful with the love you share.

I wish a peaceful life to all kind people

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Joining Hands in China and Vietnam

era_vietnam_china_largeDuring a recent trip to Hong Kong to attend the ERA 2007 Asia Conference, eighteen ERA members, staff and family spent a very wet day on a bus traveling to the city of Guangzhou to participate in a wheelchair distribution.

The Guangzhou Charity Federation arranged to deliver some 40 wheelchairs to a facility that assists children with intellectual and physical disabilities.  The wheelchairs were part of a 350-wheelchair donation that was provided by the ERA for residents of Guangzhou, and pushed the number of wheelchairs provided worldwide by the ERA to over 2,500 in just over one year.

ERA President and CEO Barbara Tulipane spoke on behalf of the ERA at the distribution ceremony which was attended by Wheelchair Foundation chairman Ken Behring and a group of supporters that he brought with him from Hawaii.

The ERA group was invited to a wonderful lunch hosted by the Guangzhou Charity Federation, and then traveled north to visit the primary factory that supplies wheelchairs distributed worldwide by the Wheelchair Foundation.  Either by complete coincidence, or very smart planning on the factory managers part, the wheelchairs that were being assembled were the ERA logo emblazoned ones slated for distribution in South Africa several weeks later.  The group was very impressed with the quality, capacity, efficiency and cleanliness of the facility.

Several days later Steve Pittendrigh, Founder and CEO of InPulse Response Group, its President Lee Swanson, his wife Kathie and Electronic Retailer magazine publisher Gina Mullins-Cohen traveled to Vietnam to help distribute 260 wheelchairs sponsored by InPulse Response Group and their new parent company West Corporation.

The trip to Vietnam was the first for all of the attendees except for Lee Swanson.  He was returning for the first time since being stationed in Vietnam some 38 years ago as an army lieutenant.  This was quite a different reason to be interacting with the people of Vietnam.  Lee and Steve jumped right in when people started arriving to receive their new wheelchairs.  If carrying or lifting was needed, Lee and Steve were the first ones there.  During the seating process and the speeches by the host organization (SAPP) and our distribution partner Roger Ferrell of Kid First Vietnam, it was clear to everyone there that Lee was enjoying this visit.  Lee spoke to the audience of wheelchair recipients, family members and dignitaries about the positive feeling he had in just being there, and there was enthusiastic applause welcoming him and our team as friends of the people in need.  The team received an equal welcome from an 81-year-old veteran of the French war who was wearing his military decorations on his pajamas when we arrived at his home.  As it turned out, his wife had been unable to walk for many years, but his hip injury was very recent.  Now the new wheelchair will be used by both husband and wife for their mobility needs.

The team traveled north to the city of Hue, situated near the banks of the Perfume River.  This beautiful city was our gathering point prior to visiting the Kids First Village in Dong Ha and homes of people in need of wheelchairs.

The distribution of wheelchairs at the Kids First Village resulted in great stories being told of new lives ahead because of the wheelchairs.  The newly designed mountain bike tires on the wheelchairs allowed for great speeds to be achieved during several wheelchair sprints across the terrace. An 18-year-old man told us that now he could try to find work somewhere in the field of computers.  It was believed by several in attendance that his physical disabilities since birth were a genetic result of the chemical remnants of war in the region.

On the way back from Dong Ha the team was allowed to enter a Vietnamese veterans cemetery and memorial.  It is a place of peaceful meditation for many visitors in the course of a week, month or year.  But to the observers of Lee Swanson it was a reflective time in a place that he felt very strongly about visiting.  The events of the previous days allowed Lee to connect on a very human level with people that suffered the struggles of immobility in their lives until his group arrived to change all that.  The gratitude and happiness in the eyes of the wheelchair recipients and their families told Lee, Kathie, Steve and Gina that gestures of peace and friendship need no translation or explanation.  It is tempting to be selfish and hold onto the handshakes and hugs for longer than they last, but the truth is that there are more to be had every time we reach out and change the life of a person and family in need of mobility.

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Hope Delivered to Yangshuo, China

Comments from the Morehead, Kentucky Sister Cities wheelchair distribution in China

The ceremony took place on March 26th in Yangshuo China. Sister Cities of Morehead, Kentucky gave 93 wheelchairs and handicapped tricycles. Another charity, White Lion International, gave more wheelchairs to make 163 in all. Both Charities were featured at the dedication ceremony, and we both had to give speeches.  I presented a Kentucky flag and Morehead City flag to the state and city representatives.  I also presented a friendship quilt from the Busy Bees Quilting Club. The ladies of the club enclosed a club picture in a pocket on the back of the quilt along with a greeting to Yangshuo.  They hoped to exchange quilt patterns with quilters in Yangshuo, but that craft is not practiced there. The quilters also sent a pattern book to encourage quilting in Yangshuo. 

The logo for the chairs was designed to show friendship between America and China- thus Wheelchairs for Peace. We only had one night to come up with the logo, but I think it spoke well from our hearts.  Yangshuo gave me the logo banner after the ceremony, and we intend to display it at our future events in Morehead.  That is why the American flag comes first on the banner to be displayed in America, but second on the wheelchairs that will stay in China. 
I could not hold back the tears when I saw two grown men waddling on their feet like ducks to reach their new chairs. They held their ankles and moved their feet one foot at a time. Others had brought little stools that they used like walkers or used crutches to reach their chairs.  Most people had relatives or friends to help them get to their chairs, but the young people wearing sashes also helped the handicapped people reach their chairs. Later our van passed one man who had taken off down the road. He was several miles from where the ceremony took place.  In a country of bicycles a handicapped person on a tricycle fits right in. The tricycles used a lever pumping action to move and could go pretty fast. Regular wheelchairs were given to those that could not use their hands effectively, but the tricycle people were completely independent and able to travel under their own efforts. 

The most outstanding thing to me was seeing our desk clerk’s husband receive a wheelchair. She had been very kind to the Sister Cities teachers last summer and now we were able to see her husband get his very own wheelchair.  She was so grateful and thanked us profusely.  Another little girl had cerebral palsy and could not control her movements.  She was heavy, so a wheelchair will really help her caretakers who seemed to be carrying her everywhere.  It was a moving ceremony for all involved and worth all the effort to raise the money.
Sincerely,
Betty Cutts

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