The Wheelchair Factory

This week we returned to the School for the Handicapped (sewing, craft, art, basic ed, book-binding) and found the students actively involved there. This time we took some pictures:

To the left is the sewing school. Notice there is a male student! He is a beginner, and was all smiles.

Below is the outdoor school for the desperately disabled students. (That's what they call it.) The teacher is teaching them how to say short sentences in English. there were more students farther back where you can't see -- about 7 more. The teacher's pronunciation wasn't perfect, and I thought about correcting him, but didn't. I remembered what I must sound like when I try to speak French. A very humbling thought. So, give them some slack!!

To the right is the bookbinding class. There are usually only 3 men in this room since it is so small. They repair broken books and make blank books of varying sizes. If they are fortunate enough to get some orders, they print booklets, too. They have copied our Health and Hygiene Training booklets without copyrights, but hey, this is the Congo, and who cares? It's more important for people to get the health and hygiene training than to get permission.

They print grids on blank paper but have to pay for that printing, so they are asking for an off-set printer. They use old cardboard, etc, and it is amazing how professional their finished product is. Our first visit there, they gave us two of their books as a gift, but we had to return one of them because it was their financial ledger -- they thought it was a blank book!

Now for the wheelchair factory. A little background: the man who is involved with this school also is involved with wheelchairs. He came to us because not only does he want items for the school, he wants us to purchase wheelchairs from his 'factory'. We know the Church wants us to do a wheelchair project, but last year when the previous humanitarian couple tried to get the chairs (only 3-wheelers with hand cranks will work here due to the uneven, broken up ground) they couldn't get them shipped from the closest source, Uganda, without paying an arm and a leg. So they gave up. We have permission to get 100 chairs (a drop in the bucket compared to the need here - so many polio victims), so we were interested to hear what this man had to tell us about his source. We went with him and were very touched by what we saw. In the middle of a very busy, dirty, bustling market place, in a narrow alley, we found 3-4 men sitting in the dirt working on a wheelchair. All these men are handicapped. When we walked up to them, they absolutely beamed! They were almost finished with the chair (it was supposed to be finished when we got there, but due to electrical outages, they hadn't been able to finish all the welding.) But what they had to show us was their pride and joy! They were very excitied, and we were excited to see that these men had learned a marketable skill to support themselves!! We love that concept. That's what this humanitarian aid is all about, to help people become self-reliant and sustainable. And we had no idea that the chairs would be built by diabled people. We were very impressed -- until we looked closely at the work. They have a very old, very basic, dangerous, broken, no cover, unadjustable welder that was hooked up with an extension cord of sorts running down the alley. And their welding job was very poor. If you know about welding, the surface needs to be smooth and not full of holes. Each joint they welded was uneven and full of holes. It was hard not to cry because we had to tell them that we couldn't purchase work like that. They, of course, said they werent' finished and the final product would be perfect. Elder B told them we would return on Monday (tomorrow) and see the results. We are pretty sure they can't do any better, not necessarilybecause of lack of skill, but because of lack of proper tools. Bless their hearts. We honestly don't see how they can fix those joints, but we will go back, and pray that a small miracle has taken place. I told Bob that I wished he could give them welding lessons, but he said he probably couldn't do any better with what they had to work with. So we will let you know what we find. The hardest part about this Humanitarian work is having to say no.

Well, just in case we have already told you all about this school, and I think maybe we did already, at least this time you have pictures to look at. Bob says maybe I should read my own blog once in a while to avoid duplication. Sorry sorry. Je suis desole!!

One final picture: Tuesday we leave again for Luputa! Wha-hoo!!! Here's a little reminder for you of the beautiful Luputa:

We love it!

Until next time, a revoir.

Therefore, let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 3 Ne 12:16.