We received an encouraging report from Isabel Valdez de Escala of Junta de Beneficencia de Guayaquil (JBG), one of our distribution partners in Ecuador, where you have helped send 21,460 wheelchairs to date.
One of them is a girl named Jennifer, the fourth of five children born in a suburb of Guayaquil, the largest, most populous city in the country. Now eight years old, Jennifer was born prematurely with cerebral palsy, facial paralysis, and club foot.
Her mother shared that Jennifer has never been able to walk or crawl.
“I had to carry her to school every day, bathe her, dress her, feed her, and take her to the bathroom,” Jennifer’s mother told Isabel, “but she can speak and learn, you know? She is a very good student, attending second grade, and is learning how to read.”
Jennifer’s mother takes care of her full-time and has no income, while her father does not live with them or contribute financially, leaving the two oldest children to support the family.
A wheelchair for Jennifer was beyond their means. Thankfully, she received a GEN_2 wheelchair via a medical outreach at a local hospital.
Jennifer’s mother later reported to Isabel, “The wheelchair has changed her life – and mine, too! Jennifer takes it to school, which is three blocks away from home. She is very happy there because she can to go outside during recess and play with her friends. Before, she had to sit indoors all day. She couldn’t even go to the bathroom, so she had to use diapers.
“We are most thankful. Jennifer is happy now! Thank you very much.”
Isabel would also like to express her gratitude, via video:
This season, Isabel and JBG are working hard to identify potential wheelchair recipients in remote, isolated places such as the islands in the Gulf of Guayaquil.
There just might be others like Jennifer and her family, ready to receive restored joy and renewed hope through the gift of mobility.
Blessings,
Don Schoendorfer
