Guatemalan Journey: Hope Haven Distribution, March 10 & 11

For a number of weeks, Mark Richard, the director of Hope Haven International here in Guatemala, has been asking me to create communication boards which their ministry can give out when they hold wheelchair distributions. I have been somewhat at a loss as to the best way to do this, since communication boards, like wheelchairs do not come in "one size fits all."

To help figure out how to do this, I decided to tag along with Dick to this distribution to see just how things played out, and see the best way to help them with this "missing piece," as Mark calls it.

Since I'm not a mechanic at heart, I got to spend most of my time interpreting, and getting to know the kids and their families. As the days progressed, I started to get some ideas of ways to construct these boards so be useful, but also simple. In reality, though, I think I will probably try to be at most of their distributions for the next few weeks to help refine the system. The Hope Haven workers and volunteers have their hands full just fitting and modifying the chairs for the clients who come in.

Hope Haven has a grant from the office of the First Lady of Guatemala to hold distributions every Thursday and Friday for individuals from different parts of the country who come in groups to their shop here in Antigua. So, I imagine I'll be spending a good bit of time there the next few weeks! I have to admit, that the folks at Hope Haven have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome and a part of their ministry, and I am enjoying getting to know them.

I was once again touched by the number of single mothers who had brought their children, of all ages, to receive wheelchairs, most carrying them on their backs. There seemed an unsual number of little guys at this distribution, and I had a ball playing with them and talking with their moms.

Dick and Lana making adjustments

I believe our oldest client was a young man who was 31. His single mom has been caring for him alone all these years, but says she is getting too old to carry him now. One of the hardest families to talk with as another single mom whose son apparently has muscular dystrophy. Mom did not know the name of his disease, but did say she knew he was getting worse each year. We decided not to tell this mom that her 18 year old son had already outlived most children with this infirmity. Fitting chairs for these two young men was especially challenging, since the more years one is without a chair, the more contorted one's body becomes. The guys at the Hope Haven Shop, with the consultation services of Lana, a physical therapist from Sioux Falls, SD and Dick, they did an amazing job "MacGuynering" what chairs were available into ones that would serve these two young men.

As with the Bethel Ministries shop, many of the workers at Hope Haven are themselves in wheelchairs. It was particularly touching to see a mom talking with one of the women mechanics. Afterward, Mom told me talking with her had given her more hope for what her daughter might be able to do in the future. Sweet. . .