Jacqueline’s joy

Posted: January 26, 2011   By: Holly Drake

JACMEL, Haiti - Jacqueline was doing her best to provide for her children when she was on her way to work one February morning nine years ago.

But unlike previous mornings, this morning would change her life forever. Jacqueline was struck by a car, losing her leg and her mobility. Now, years later, she still suffers the consequences of that morning.

Give a wheelchair to someone disabled

Jacqueline lives with her children, but at the age of 71, she has no means of earning income.

“I am a poor woman,” she said. “I don’t have anyone to take care of me. I am begging for money just to buy food.”

“I would like to buy a wheelchair,” she explained, “but I couldn’t possibly afford one.”

Thanks to Operation Blessing and Free Wheelchair Mission, Jacqueline received the gift of a wheelchair that she so desperately desired and now has her mobility and independence back after nine long years.

“Everyone around that humble woman could see her joy,” said an OBI staff member after giving her the wheelchair.

Since last year, OBI has distributed 1,500 wheelchairs to earthquake victims and disabled persons in Haiti.

The wheelchairs are inexpensively manufactured from premade parts like plastic lawn chairs, mountain bike tires, and foam seat cushions. The result is an affordable and easily distributed wheelchair—one that costs just $65 each and changes the lives of disabled men, women and children just like Jacqueline.

So far, Operation Blessing and Free Wheelchair Mission have distributed containers of wheelchairs in more than 12 countries, bringing the gift of mobility to thousands of people in places like Haiti, Peru, India, Ukraine, Cambodia and Laos.