Wheelchair Survey

In the past 6 years, Free Wheelchair Mission, (FWM), Giving It Back to Kids, (GIBTK), and Humanitarian Services for the Children of Vietnam, (HSCV) have distributed more than 14,000 free wheelchairs for disabled and physically challenged people in many Northern provinces of Vietnam.
In 2008, 200 handicapped people in two provinces, (Thai Nguyen and Hoa Binh) randomly received wheelchairs from the three organizations listed above. Almost three years later, we in HSCV had the opportunity to come to each home to visit the receivers and see how the wheelchair has affected their lives. We wanted to find out if the wheelchair was still in use, what, if any, parts of the wheelchair were broken, and did anyone need replacement parts.

Driving toward the two provinces, we finally reached the steep hills. In heavy wind, rain, and fog, cars could only travel at 7-10km per hour, (about 4-6MPH). Eventually the road turned into a thick muddy mess, and our car became stuck in the mud. We could not get out until the locals shoveled gravel and brought wooden planks to help us drive out of the mud. Then there are those swollen streams that we couldn’t drive through unless local officials carried us on their backs. It was an interesting experience!

But there were other times when we walked several kilometers between the rice fields at their most beautiful period – in bloom. The fragrance of the rice in bloom combined with the mountain air was great! It’s a pleasure that people in urban areas will never experience!

With the enthusiastic help of local officials we managed to visit all of the people in 20 days. As for the people who received the wheelchairs, some have seen died, most are still alive. We found these people in various emotional states – some happy, some sad, still others depressed at their disability. Many of the people still recognized me, and it made me happy!

There are those who use the wheelchair all day long and only leave the wheelchair to sleep in bed at night. Many of the wheelchairs were damaged because of wear and tear; we wished we had new wheelchairs to give to them.

Many of the disabled people want to ride more often but there are not many relatives in their family, and their relatives have to work to earn a living, so they do not have time to take their, (Grandmother, Grandfather, son, or daughter) out for a stroll – even though they would like to do that.

Yes, if you never come to visit the handicapped people in person, you will never understand how much they suffer in their life. Think of their daily existence: they stay at home all day, alone, with no one to talk to, their children must go to work to earn enough money for the family to just survive, they feel helpless because they are unable to do even simple tasks. But most of all, loneliness and isolation are terrible things that handicapped people have to endure. When we came to visit them, we gave them some small gifts and they cried holding these gifts as if they were solid gold.

Just our short visit brought them happiness, if ever so brief. We took a medical survey while visiting them, asking several questions related to their health. We had to ask them how often they feel pain and which parts of their body makes them hurt. But I wonder: how do you measure and heal sadness and loneliness?

In addition to doing the wheelchair survey for FWM and GIBTK, HSCV also can provide medical help to some children who have heart defects, and arrange for orthopedic surgery for other children. We also brought with us second-hand clothes to donate to those in need.

There are people who no longer needed a wheelchair for movement, so, it was given to others who needed one. However, there is a family with three children who are all disabled. They received three wheelchairs, including the 2 wheelchairs distributed by FWM; but they gave the wheelchairs to others who needed a wheelchair even more than themselves. They told us that they don’t go out that often and whenever they do go out, they only need to use one wheelchair.
The father of 3 children told us how he was wounded in the war, had lost an eye, and received shrapnel in his body. His three children, a daughter and two sons were born with birth defects caused by Agent Orange. The father is still full of generosity, ready to share the family’s wheelchairs with other people more needy than his own kids!

There are those who had received a wheelchair but have now since passed away. Their relatives want to keep the wheelchair as a souvenir, something of a reminder of the loved one who died. But some others found someone in their family who needed a wheelchair so they gave it to them. In one case, when we came to their house, there was a recent death in the family. The father had just passed away about 100 days ago. The lady whom I talked to said she would be happy to give her father’s wheelchair to another needy person. So, we contacted the local officials to inquire if anyone was in need of a wheelchair and if so, to contact this family to get the wheelchair.

Some of the people we met want to keep the wheelchairs for their elderly people in case they need one in the future as they think it is not easy to get one. We also visited some places in these provinces where the custom is that when a person dies, all the things of the dead person should be follow them into the next world.

There is a family we met in which the elderly husband looks after his elderly wife. Every day he takes her in the evening to enjoy the cool breeze, by pushing her in her wheelchair to the temple, or pagoda or to the village festivals. So, the tires on her wheelchair were so well-worn that we offered to replace the wheels.

In an ethnic hill tribe family, when we arrived the husband immediately brought out his alcohol and invited us to a drink! It was fun! He told us his story of how happy he was since he just got the new wheelchair. His children get to push him around the yard in the wheelchair. He is very happy but to do everyday tasks, he still walks on his knees. He makes baskets to catch shrimp. He charges a price of 1,800VND for one basket, (about 9 cents USD). From cutting bamboo, chopping it into small pieces and making the basket, his baskets are more beautiful than ones made by people who aren’t physically handicapped! So, more people order from him and he can sell the baskets at an even better price of 2,000 VND (10 cents USD!) for one basket. Perhaps when people lose some physical ability, they gain a different ability to do some other thing unique that people without a disability don’t have. Or, maybe disabled people when they cannot do something like the rest of us can do, then they can put all their mind and heart on their job so that their work results are better, more beautiful, and in this case, greatly appreciated!

And most of all we are still receiving compliments from wheelchair users and their families that they have never seen such generous organizations like ours! FWM, GTBTK and HSCV not only gave them wheelchairs for free, but also visited them, gave them gifts, and sent replacement parts for broken wheelchairs.

On the way back to Hanoi, I received text messages on my cell phone asking, "Did you get back to Hanoi yet? We are Hau and Thanh, whom you visited today. Thank you for visiting us and for the gifts you gave us! When we have an opportunity to come to Hanoi, could we meet, ok"?!! I sent them a reply and we exchanged many text messages! The long journey home to Hanoi seemed shorter while my heart is filled with many warm and yet, bittersweet memories of this trip!

I wish our charitable organizations could provide more help for people who are less fortunate, like Hau and Thanh, to ease their burden in this life.

Blogged by Hanh Ngo - HSCV member