Our final day......

Today we made our final delivery of the trip to San Cayetano in the province of Santa Ana. We arrived at a church building that was filled to the brim with adults and children. When the children saw us they came outside curious to see what we were doing.





David with some helpers.





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People come up with the most ingenious ways to get around!



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We had a little fun with these women helping them make tamales. Every Saturday they make 1000 (!) tamales selling them for .25 each to raise money for the church.




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The pastor prayed for us and shared with everyone that this was the greatest blessing their community ever received. She said she felt the gift of the wheelchairs made them feel less remote and helped connect them to the rest off the world.

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We ended our trip with a celebration dinner with Cristy and our faithful driver, Josue. We shared memories from the week and all decided that we wanted to make another trip together next year! Stay tuned.....

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The most moving distribution yet.....

Today we drove to the region of Santa Ana and the town of El Tinteral, not far from the border of Guatemala. Awaiting us was a crowd of local people. There wasn't a ceremony or the mayor to meet us or anything fancy, just pure love and faith. The children began to hug us and we felt so welcome. We distributed 10 chairs, adjusted them and spent some time hearing their stories and praying with them.








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Then, all of a sudden they broke out in song praising God for his goodness and thanking him for our arrival. After the distribution, all the men gathered, removed their hats and began to pray for us as they felt led. They are probably the poorest community we have visited yet the richest and most joyful in their faith. We were all so moved. Their faith spoke volumes!










Over and over again they prayed for our safety and that our lives be blessed. They praised us for obeying God's commands to help the poor and the needy and recognized these wheelchairs as a gift from God. They really understood our mission not from just a fulfillment of a need but from a spiritual standpoint.

Enjoy these pictures from below that tell the story.....
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This woman was born with one leg and no foot and two partial arms. She has been getting along by crawling on her three limbs and works as a seamstress and cleans and irons clothes! Her smile and joy was an inspiration to us all.







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Luis Jacobo fell from a mango tree in his work in April of 2011
and his body is paralyzed and non-functioning. His joy and faith is so strong it was almost hard to comprehend. He said he will use his chair to get out in the sun, go to church and be of service to others. Amen brother!









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Anna, at the age of 7 began having seizures and eventually became paralyzed. For the last 20 years she has not been able to walk and her sister-in-law has been caring for her and when Ana needs to move, she carries her on her back. Their sense of family and community is unparalleled!!!




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Today was so special and we are all basking in the faith and love we witnessed and felt from these beautiful people.



Thank you for your prayers and love in traveling on this trip with us through our blog. We feel the love!




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Location:61 Avenida Norte,San Salvador,El Salvador

San Luis la Herradura wheelchair distribution

Today was fun and meaningful for us. We "slept in" as our first distribution required us to leave the hotel at noon. Some went to the market to shop for local handicrafts, others went to a local art gallery and some of us just hung out at the hotel. Our distribution took us to the beachside community of San Luis la Herradura. We were met by the mayor who totally surprised us by a boat ride through the inlet out to the Pacific ocean. What a treat! The only sad part was witnessing the devastation of a recent flood of a beachside community that forced an evacuation of the people inland. We are in the rainy season and each afternoon were are met with some terrific thunderstorms.



Here are some stories from our distributions from today....

It is always amazing to see how disabled people make it to the distributions. Here is Virginia Acosta arriving in a local "taxi" by herself with an amputated leg as a result of diabetes.







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Paulino de Jesus Miranda is blind from cataracts and deaf at age 91. He promised us he would take care of his new chair.




Samuel Alberto Orellano' just 11 years old, at the age of 5 contracted an illness that rendered him paralyzed on his left side. His parents are so grateful they will be able to get him to the hospital for his care with greater ease. He is delighted he will be able to move by himself! They recognize this chair is a gift from God.





Elvira Claros Grimalde is 68 and has lost her left foot, again from diabetes. Her daughter has had to care for her so she is so happy to be less of a burden to her.




The thing our team recognizes again and again is the incredible joy and gratitude the people of El Salvador exude. The gratitude and joy is contagious. We are having such a blessed experience and will not be the same as a result of this trip!


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Location:61 Avenida Norte,San Salvador,El Salvador

Fourth of July in El Salvador

Ned adjusting the foot rest and Kat inflating the tires. We have an awesome team of hard workers!

Our day began here at the town of Santa Tecla in the Posada Santa Teresa Health Clinic where a local TV station interviewed us and we adjusted chairs that will be delivered to locals in the municipality at a later date.

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Our next visit was to a women's home for the aged run by the sisters of San Vicente de Paul. All women who live here have no family so to have visitors was a real treat! All religions are welcome, the only requirement is that there is no family to care for them.




Maria Elena Santos, age 88 with Kat. Maria is deaf, blind and recently broke her hip and pelvis from a fall. Even though she couldn't hear or see she could love and hug!

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Joe, Kat, Julio, Anna and David at the men's home for the aged. We delivered 5 chairs, fitted each one to the recipient and had some time with each gentlemen. That gift of time and attention for these people was second only to placing them in their chairs.




Joe and I had the privilege of praying with this man who felt sad and hopeless. He felt sick all the time and was fearful of dying and lonely because his family didn't visit him. We prayed for his comfort and peace and the love of Jesus to fill his heart and assured him we would keep him in prayer.





The need and poverty of El Salvador is contrasted by it's amazing natural beauty.

We remembered our family and friends last night on this Independence Day and thanked God for our beloved country.

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Location:61 Avenida Norte,San Salvador,El Salvador

Another rich day....

A miracle happened today! Yesterday, on our first day out, we came across a man in the street who was in a wheelchair-begging. We noticed his feet were dragging on the ground with no foot rest. Cristy, our FWM partner, said we could bring him a chair tomorrow. To our delight he was on the same street this morning as we began our day. We pulled over on this busy street, talked with him (Saul) and unloaded the FWM chair. Upon further examination the wheels were running on bare metal and the spokes were broken on one wheel. We put him in his new chair and his smile speaks volumes! His friend, Carlos, who once lived in Los Angeles, spoke perfect English, interpreted for us and helped us pray over our new Christian friend. It was a spontaneous opportunity the Lord presented to us. We hope we will see our Christian brothers tomorrow!!
















Sketch by our resident artist, Ali. Amazing....


Anna and Jennifer at our distribution at Suchitoto. We couldn't get a smile out of Jennifer until she was placed in her chair. When we starting wheeling her around, she squealed in delight and joy and a non-stop smile appeared!




Brenda and Ali at the distribution in Suchitoto. Brenda was born with hydrocephalus but is such a joyful young lady of 16 years. Her mom and dad were in tears as they received the chair and pretty soon we were all in tears of joy.

The recipients at this lovely distribution each spoke of their gratitude for FWM and their new American friends and all their friends back in the USA who care enough to fund these chairs to those in need and change the lives of so many families.



Toward the end of our day we made several home distributions. After a long drive down a dirt road and a pretty long walk over several bridges (David is pulling our chair) we came upon a very impoverished village to make our delivery to Manuel who suffers from Parkinson's disease and paralysis.



The sentiment of the day from our friend, Delores- God is good and faithful and he loves us all!


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Location:61 Avenida Norte,San Salvador,El Salvador

The long day with great rewards!

A sketch by our team member, Ali, of Santos, a wheelchair recipient. We discovered her hidden talent!

Our first day began with a long drive of 6 hours to a town in the mountains, Corinto, on the border of Honduras. Awaiting us was a Peace Corps volunteer, Trish, from Seattle who lives in Corinto. We were able to meet 10 people in need of chairs and helped with adjusting foot rests and harnesses. Our teams also helped distribute beans and rice, shoes and the always popular lollipops! It was worth the long drive to meet the lovely and grateful people of Corinto.






Sandi helping Santos with his harness. Santos was born with Hydrocephaleus, water on the brain. He is 16 years old and has become too heavy to be carried. The chair is an incredible gift to his family and they are so thankful to YOU, the generous supporters of FWM!!



Joe and David adjusting the chair of Maria an 88 year old woman suffering for debilitating Arthritis.



Here is the pretty and very sweet Veronica Ortez, born with a mysterious condition where her joints have very little connecting tendons so when she tries to stand or walk, she falls. Medical care is scarce and because she hasn't gotten proper care, has been living with this condition and must be carried everywhere. The first thing she wants to do now that she has the gift of mobility is to go to the Plaza de Alma's ( the town square) where people gather and she can be with her friends, no longer confined to home. Her parents have been praying for a chair and thank God he has answered their prayers!


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We Made It!

Here we are at the airport in El Salvador with our trusted guide for the week, Cristy. From the left are Ned and Kat from Reno, Nevada, then David, Joe, Anna, Susan, Ali and Sandi, all from southern Cal. Cristy is in the front in blue.
The trip down was smooth for all and we are very excited to get to work tomorrow. God has assembled an awesome team of world travelers and people with great hearts, on fire for FWM! We thank you for your love and support and prayers and look forward to sharing the journey with you!

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Location:61 Avenida Norte,San Salvador,El Salvador