Kursi Roda Mengantarkan - Wheelchair Delivery

suggestion through the window!

Some days are just worth getting up for! Oh I know, all days are worth getting up for as the alternative is not great but this one was definitely worth it. Berty and I met a 20 year old woman a few weeks ago who had a motorcycle accident at age 17 and lost both of her legs. She is a high amputee and although there was insurance money involved and she was able to go to Bali for prosthetics she found them very heavy as she is just a slight bit of a thing as many are in Indonesia, one finally broke when the knee lock gave way and finally, when her stumps shrunk after the first year, they didn't fit. So, with nowhere for repair and re-fitting and the heavy weight she has done without. Her mother lifts her when she needs to get on the back of a motor bike and she doesn't go out much even to her church as it is just too difficult to get around once there.
So, we began asking questions about re-fits, lighter prosthetics, even knowing how diffiult high level leg prosthetics are to use, especially without good instruction and rehab. We learned the province does supply wheelchairs but the budget for this year is gone and she would have to wait until April.

But, good ol' Berty has made a good relationship with the disabled persons organization (DPO) by the name of PERSANI, which I located in my chats with Handicap International last February.  With a call to PERSANI Berty asked if they happened to have a spare chair that could be borrowed and out of the blue they had one that someone did not need any longer and were willing to send it out to our new friend Elmi in the village of Oesena! Hers to keep.

We rented a driver and car today and loaded up the chair, stopped by the village office to take some officials with us in order to educate them on the spot what is available for disabled people and to enlist any other help for accessability to the home, the church in the village. Great teachable moment!

Been a long time since the Glenrose days

Turned out even better as they had ideas on how to make the chair fit her better, cut the arms down and re-weld to the right height, take the foot rests off as she doesn't need them. I demonstrated the use of the brakes and the importance of them and how to turn. It's been a long time since I worked at Glenrose Rehab Hospital and learned about whelchair use. They all had a great laugh, then she showed how she could transfer from chair to chair. She was so happy and brave to use it right off. A neighbour man came by and hung through the window to put in his two cents worth on how to cut the arms down. (see photo above).


A Merry Christmas to all of you at home, and although we have chosen not to buy decorations for our house, we do have them in our yard - a full white pointsetia tree and beside it some sort of evergreen!!!! no snow in sight though!
If anyone is trying to buy a last minute gift for someone who has everything, don't forget about my fundraising page at CUSO that helps to send volunteers oversees - not money in the form of charity but volunteers to learn and share in another culture. (Absolutlely no pressure!!) Love to all, Pam in Indonesia.

Our Christmas Trees