Bringing Life
to Families in
Kenya
Wheels for the World,
Elburgon 2018
57% of mothers in Kenya have been pressured to kill their disabled
child (according to a report by Disability Rights International) so our
Wheels team were literally helping families to overcome death on
their recent trip to rural Kenya.
In a society that doesn’t want disabled people there are horrific
stories of family members who tell the mother to put acid in their
child’s food to end their life. Irene being carried in to the distribution
Through our team and your support we were able to help people
like 32 year old Irene, who contracted polio when she was 4, was
abandoned by her mother and brought up in an orphanage. She
has a 6 year old daughter and fosters two more children with some
help from friends. She said
she was inspired by her
experiences to help other
children get a better start
in life. She had to be carried
to the centre but proudly
left in a wheelchair. As a
result of her polio she had
severe weakness of her
right side and some
weakness in her left arm,
but was able to self-propel
herself slowly. Fortunately,
we were able to supply a
fitted cushion, which will The team also helped Josephine, who had polio at the age of 12,
and is now 50. Following a three hour journey to the distribution,
she rose from her seat, and turning over and pushing with her arms,
struggled up onto her callipers; then with one crutch she lumbered
across the dusty road to the site. Though her callipers helped to
keep her knees straight, her walking was laboured.
Irene in her carefully fitted chair
help with her spine discomfort, and a chair with desk arms to help
her work from home and support the family she cares for.
Unlike most children with a disability in Kenya, she attended school.
She had later married and had children, but was soon left to bring
them up on her own. She needed the callipers to manoeuvre herself
into the wheelchair, but once seated, she was able to propel the
chair without much pain or effort. She was very pleased with the
wheelchair, as it will help her run her tailoring business, and support
her family.
In total 187 disabled people were registered, and we distributed 117
wheelchairs, 4 buggies, 60 crutches, 2 walking frames, and 166 bibles.
Thank you for your support – it makes all this life-changing work
possible. Please consider donating (at www.throughtheroof.org)
to support future trips, or take a look at the opportunities to
volunteer below.
Opportunities to Change Lives
Wheels for the World Churches Inc. If you would like to know how you could also be involved,
please contact [email protected]. Besides
experienced therapists to fit wheelchairs, and techies to
adjust them, we need people with administration,
photographic, and pastoral skills. Get in touch, and join us
on one of these trips…
Kenya (Eldoret/Kimililli): –
6th – 16th February 2019 We would like volunteers who are Bible teachers and have
of experience of working with people with all kinds of
disabilities to apply for our Churches Inc. teams. Please also
contact Shaun to find out more.
Uganda (Sudanese refugee
camp on the northern border): 5th – 15th June 2019 Ukraine (Ternopil): 6th – 16th August 2019
Tanzania (Mwanza): 1st – 11th October 2019
Tanzania (Mwanza):
www.throughtheroof.org
1st – 11th October 2019
Kosovo:
2nd – 12th April 2019