This week’s story comes to us via Food For the Poor (FFP), our distribution partner in Guyana.
FFP had received an application for a wheelchair from Bibi, a domestic worker who serves as her family’s sole breadwinner after her husband suffered a stroke and was left bedridden. She was applying for her youngest child, a four-year-old boy named Atif who has lived with a disability since birth.
Atif‘s older brother takes care of him while their mother is at work, home-schooling Atif and carrying him wherever he needs to go.
When the wheelchair distribution team met Atif for the first time, they were immediately charmed by the little boy’s warmth and playfulness. He engaged them in a game of peek-a-boo and recited the alphabet as he waited patiently for his wheelchair to be assembled and fitted.
Bibi expressed her desire to send him to the local nursery school and allow him to participate in class. He would need a wheelchair to do so, as his older brother wouldn’t be around to carry him from place to place and none of the nearby schools were equipped to assist children with disabilities.
Atif couldn’t wait to try out his new wheelchair. As soon as he was lifted into his seat, he eagerly took control of the wheels and pushed himself along, making car sounds.
His mother began to cry tears of joy. She thanked the team for making Atif so happy and giving him an opportunity to go to school.
Thank you for being part of this worldwide team. Your prayers and support help make it possible for us to ship wheelchairs to distribution partners such as Food For the Poor, who know the needs of their communities and are able to connect wheelchairs to those who need them the most.
Blessings,
Don Schoendorfer
