Changing Lives: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint's Wheelchair Project

"Changing Lives: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint's Wheelchair Project"
Elder Darrel L. Hammon

Being Welfare Specialists in the Caribbean Area Welfare Office is probably the best way to serve a mission. It is truly providentliving.org at its finest. We are able to do everything, including participate in humanitarian project reviews.

Brother and Sister Spencer

Recently, we had the wonderful opportunity to host the Brother and Sister Spencer who are Church’s wheelchair specialists from Ogden, Utah. They are the ones who create and review wheelchair projects all over the world. They came to the Dominican Republic recently to meet with ASOFIDIMO, CONADIS, and the Asociación Dominicana de Rehabilitación (ADR), three organizations that work with the Church in wheelchair distribution throughout the Dominican Republic.

               

Each of the three organizations had scheduled interviews with several wheelchair recipients. These people have become disabled because of many reasons—motorcycle (moto) accidents, stray bullets, wrong medications, birth defects, and others. But the amazing thing about every single person we visited was that they were happy, happy to be alive, happy to be with family and friends, and happy to have jobs albeit small ones. We learned their wheelchairs have enhanced their lives. Some of them received small business loans to start up businesses to add to their incomes.

Daniel showing us his mini-farm

One of our first visits was going to see Daniel, a wheelchair recipient who had received one of the small business loans from the ADR to start a little mini-farm way up in the mountainous community of Los Dajaos. The route to his home was incredible, the views fantastic. Here we were are on an island, but the vistas were stunning—lots of mountains, green trees, a small creek in the bottom of the canyon, pine trees, and a very narrow windy dirt/gravel road. We finally came to a place and stopped, thinking this was the place. We walked down this hill and found out we were in the wrong place. We should have turned left back up the road a piece.

We climbed back in the van with little a couple of young girls who ultimately directed us to where Daniel lived. When we approached his home, which is down off the road and at the end of a lane, he was in his wheelchair in his “office,” a small shack where he reads, paints, repairs shoes, plans out his next crop, and just contemplates life. His mother’s house is right next door. He then took us on a tour of the little piece of property he farms.

Daniel picking tayota

He can get around pretty well on his “Rough Rider” wheelchair. He also showed us the tayota crop he was growing with his family. Tayota is like a squash, only smaller and lime green. They put up wires around 48-55 inches high, and the tayota’s vines grow up and on top of the wires. The vegetable then hangs down. With him in a wheelchair, he could tend and harvest it well. But someone like me or anyone who is taller than 48-55 inches, it is terrible because you have to bend down to pick the vegetable. Interestingly, he showed me a small bud of one and said they could harvest it in about 8-22 days, depending how much water it receives. The more water it receives, the faster it grows.

Ramona and her family

After lunch, we drove to Ramona’s house. She is a young mother with a contagious smile, a husband, and two beautiful children. She is in a wheelchair because the hospital gave her the wrong medication, and she had a terrible reaction to it. In fact, it put her in a coma for six months. The result was complete paralysis for some time, but she came out of it and began therapy. Now she cooks, cleans, fixes dinner, and runs a little store, thanks to a small-business loan from ADR. She was quite amazing. Her husband stuck by her. He is a little older than she is. While she was in a coma, his friends told him to dump her and go after another. His response: I married her for good times and bad times. Congrats to both of them.

We also spent some time with CONADIS, visiting various participants in wheelchairs. We traveled with Rosalina Nuñez and Martin, the photographer. Rosalina is also in a wheelchair and loves the people she works with. She is one of those people all companies who loved to have. She is vigorous, well-spoken, enjoys the people she is with, and shares her enthusiasm for everything and everyone. People love her.

               

Mercedes and Brother Spencer

 With CONADIS, we met Mercedes, an incredible person. She was 17-years-old, she stood 6’4”, already skilled in basketball and volleyball and looked to have a promising career. One fateful day, she was cleaning her home when a stray bullet entered through the wall, slammed into her right side, and exited through her back, injuring her spinal cord. From that day, she has been in a wheelchair. Through all of this, she has gone to college, obtained a good job, lives in an apartment (3^rd floor), and continued to play basketball in a wheelchair. She even told us she is engaged to a young man who is finishing his medical degree. They plan on marrying when he finishes. She exuded confidence and happiness. We enjoyed visiting with her.

José and his family

ASOFIDIMO took us to see José Enrique Cabrera, a 34-year-old young man with a beautiful wife and two beautiful children. He was riding his moto and was in an accident. Now, he has little use of his legs and limited use of his right hand. He is an entrepreneur and sells videos in the street. He is positive about his future and about his family.

We visited others along the way, but these are representative of the people who have received wheelchairs as part of the Church’s humanitarian project here in the Dominican Republic. Each recipient glowed with enthusiasm and was very appreciative of his or her wheelchair.

Our partners

Thanks to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and people like Brother and Sister Spencer who volunteer their time in help countries like the Dominican Republic to obtain wheelchairs. And many thanks to ADR, ASOFINDIMO, and CONADIS for their willingness to partner with the Church to distribute the wheelchairs. It is really the people within these organizations who make a difference—Dr. José Zometa, Leyda, Guadalupe, María, Rosa, Rosalina, and so many others. Thank you!