Wheelchairs in Paraguay, part 3 - "One by one"

My previous two posts described the process of wheelchair distribution that we have begun to discover here in our mission. There was one experience in today's wheelchair event that, to me, expressed beautifully the spirit of the work that were are privileged to be involved in. It spoke to the balance between efficiency and personalization. It reflected the principle that each and every soul is worthwhile and valuable in God's eyes, and therefore should be valuable to us.

The efficiency of the event exists in asking the recipients to come to a central place to be evaluated. That is sometimes difficult for them, but they are willing to sacrifice in order to get a top-quality wheelchair at no cost to them.

Today we were asked to make an exception.

There was an elderly woman who lived some 40 kilometers away who was unable to travel. So we went to her. I accompanied one of the evaluators and one of the members of the other sponsoring organization in a truck. It took us over an hour to get to the home, past several cities, through dense forests and cultivated fields of mandioca and sugar cane, down many dirt roads. Finally we arrived at the simple but clean home and met our patient.

We soon learned that this tiny, frail woman was 92 years old, and blind! She could barely walk short distances with lots of help, from her bed to the kitchen and the front porch where she spent most of the day sitting and listening to the world around her.

She lives with two of her daughters, the oldest and youngest of her 12 children. She spoke only Guarani, the native language of the people of the area; fortunately the evaluator was fluent in that language as well as Spanish. She and her daughters hoped to be able to take her to visit family members and friends while she still could travel, and a wheelchair would make that possible, as well as greatly simplifying their life at home.

The whole evaluation took perhaps 20 minutes; and then we made the hour-long drive back to Caacupé.

So while there was benefit in the efficient group operation back at the chapel, where over 50 people were seen this morning, I loved the realization that a single 92-year-old woman mattered enough that three of us would devote 2 1/2 hours to provide help to her and her family! She will get a wheelchair, and for however many months or years of life she has remaining, she and her family will be blessed.

I only wish I could have had the chance to see her in her new chair.

PS - notice the big cigar in her hand as she first greeted us. One of her few joys in life!