Nyeri Blog -- Day 1 - 15/11/12

Glenda from our Wheels for the World team is writing a blog from Nyeri. The team will be there running a distribution up until returning to the UK on the 24th November. Here's the first entry...

We arrived in Nyeri about 12.00 - all feeling slightly fuzzy headed through lack of sleep. We had lunch at the hotel and then were collected to go to the Hospice. The two Nigels went off to buy foam for cushions and padding the wheelchairs.

There are tents covering the wheelchairs all laid out in readiness for our distribution. We were not expecting to see clients today but about 14 had been invited. Ten people came - we were only seeing registered clients. However one young lady Irene came carrying Pauline, her ten year old very severely disabled sister. Their parents had both died and Irene was looking after her. Pauline was in a body splint and hand splints, she was very wheezy and 'cannot see' and just felt skin and bones. Sue fitted her in one of our ITO pushchairs - Irene was really pleased and Pauline looked settled in her specially adjusted pushchair.

We have a great team enhanced by Pastor Davis Gatua from Elburgon joining us to pray with the clients after they have received their wheelchairs.

Everyone else has gone off to bed and I am sat on the terrace writing this - need to go and catch up on my beauty sleep - probably not possible!

Please keep remembering us in prayer.

(The photo is from a previous trip to Kenya -- we'll have pictures from this distribution once the team return).

Follow this link to read all of our Wheels blog entries

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Out Now! The Autumn 2012 Vital Link

The latest Vital Link newsletter (for November to March) is now available. Follow this link to download the Autumn 2012 Vital Link Newsletter PDF

Please note that this issue includes a letter from our CEO, Tim Wood and a copy of our donation form.

Please get in touch (on 01372 749955 or by following this link to email us) if you have any problems downloading this, or if you’d like to receive future newsletters by post or email.

Christmas is coming!

We would encourage you to consider buying Christmas cards and gifts this year from Just Cards Direct.

Just Cards Direct sells handmade cards and gifts from Africa as well as their own ranges of printed cards. Their name, ‘just cards’, means that they not only sell cards but that they also aim to help provide justice, dignity and hope for disadvantaged people. One example of this is the establishing of a community development project in Mamelodi Township, South Africa.

The majority of profits are given to Christian charities, and TTR will receive 10% of any website purchases made by our supporters as long ‘Through the Roof’ is selected from the drop down menu at the payment stage.

Please follow this link to have a look!

Singing for Wheels

The Mothers Union of St Pauls Church, on the Isle of Wight, have been supporters of Wheels for the World for many years and recently invited The Phoenix Choir to perform a concert at the church to raise funds for Wheels.

The Phoenix Choir was formed in 2009 to raise funds for deserving causes, and includes members from various local musical societies.

The audience enjoyed an evening of easy listening songs from musicals (including Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables) to classics such as Amazing Grace and Bridge over Troubled Water, all of which were arranged by the musical director of the choir.

The Mothers Union provided refreshments in the interval and a retiring collection raised £292.98

Thank you to all involved!

Trevor Hahn

Trevor Hahn has been appointed as a Trustee of ‘Through the Roof’ in September 2012. He is currently training in Cambridge to become a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the United Reformed Church and is still called upon to use his previous training and experience working as an accountant in a variety of ways. He has a passion for seeing all people, including those with disabilities, being welcomed and included in both church and community. He is married with two children, one of whom has special needs, and when he is not studying or balancing the books enjoys spending time with his family and friends and going for walks in the countryside.

The World Comes to Wheels

Throughout September, Great Britain has been thrilled by the achievements and skill of Paralympic athletes from around the world. We’ve all watched remarkable athletes do amazing things, but sadly, many athletes and teams arriving from poorer countries don’t have their own wheelchairs or well-fitted aids at home, and have had to borrow wheelchairs, or make do with sharing them to get around at the games. Many of these athletes, and some of the teams supporting them, will be going back home without the wheelchairs that could improve independence and access to work, life and training.

Wheels for the World, part of the disability charity Through the Roof, was contacted about this need for wheelchairs by Dr Fred Sorrells of the International Institute of Sport, and arranged two days working at St. John’s Church in Stratford to provide properly fitted wheelchairs and crutches for delegates who needed them. Wheels for the World is used to taking donated chairs from the UK, refurbishing them in a workshop on Parkhurst Prison, and then distributing them to developing countries where many don’t have the opportunity to buy their own chair, so a distribution in East London was a very different experience for the team. But it was a distribution that had the same effect, with the gift of a chair improving the independence of many of the clients, including Mary. Mary is a paralympic athlete from Kenya, competing in discus, shot-put and javelin – she won silver in Beijing. She had polio at the age of 3 and makes her living selling goods at the roadside. Even getting to her training depends on inconsistent transportation, and her new wheelchair will mean she’s able to work and get to her coaching much more easily.

Over the two days of distribution, Wheels assessed 53 clients (including athletes, team leaders, medical staff, admin staff and even a couple of chefs) from 26 different countries, giving out chairs, crutches and rollators plus repairing and tuning up several damaged chairs.

God's Spirit in Motion?

This article, by our CEO Tim Wood, first appeared in the ‘Connecting with Culture’ weekly e-mail produced by London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

Over the next fortnight the Paralympics will welcome 4,000 disabled sportsmen and sportswomen to London and seek to emulate its motto, ‘Spirit in Motion’. The Games will value and recognise each competitor equally as an athlete, celebrate every individual’s God-given talent, and provide accessible facilities and assistance to ensure a truly rewarding and inclusive experience.

This positive environment will contrast with UK society more generally, where disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty, and more likely to suffer abuse, hate-crime, physical violence and abortion. Research shows that 65% of families with disabled children frequently feel isolated, with one in five such families breaking up. The daily struggles disabled people face pose uncomfortable questions.

Games Chair, Lord Coe, declares: ‘London 2012’s vision has always been to use the power of the Games to inspire change... to change attitudes and break down barriers to social inclusion.’ The Government likewise maintains that the event ‘will showcase a Britain without barriers [and] a country in which the whole of society takes responsibility for changing the lives of disabled people’. It seems our sport and political leaders perceive the influential role the Games has as a catalyst for change. I wonder, do we, as Christians, acknowledge the part that we might play in pursuing parity?

The message of Jesus in Luke 14 is of inclusivity. He advises not to ask friends to a dinner party, but to invite the marginalised members of society – those living in poverty, or with personal experience of disability: people who are forgotten and overlooked (14:12-14). Jesus expresses the heart of his Father through the parable of a house owner who throws a banquet and orders his servants to go out and bring in ‘the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame’ (14:21). God’s kingdom isn’t complete without disabled people at the table. It is precisely in human brokenness that the brightness of the gospel of grace is seen in all its power.

London’s Paralympics will provide a unique sporting stage for the fortunate few, and reveal the abilities and spirit of disabled people. It also offers the ideal backdrop to profile the injustices faced by disabled people and to offer a compelling alternative.

Beyond this Paralympics, will we seize the baton and strive together to invite disabled people to join God’s Spirit in Motion?

TTR at the Stoke Mandeville Festival

TTR was involved with a community festival at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, celebrating the opening night of the Paralympics. Here's a few thoughts from event organisers, More Than Gold, about the evening.

Finally the rain stopped, the sun broke through and people of all ages and abilities just had fun, at the first ever Paralympic opening night community festival.

The free event, on Wednesday 29th August, was at the birthplace of the Paralympics, Stoke Mandeville Stadium. In keeping, the massive enterprise went the extra mile to be fully inclusive.

Much of the grass was decked with wheelchair-friendly boards. There were opportunities to try Paralympic sport. And a multi-sensory area drew large numbers. Meanwhile, events like the tug of war became open to all, including wheelchair-users.

It had been a nail-biting experience for the organisers, the Aylesbury Churches Network – fourteen churches of different denominations who had planned and funded the event. Torrential rain throughout the day had threatened to bring disaster.

Just in time, the torrents stopped. As the clouds broke, organiser Rev Martin Kuhrt said, ‘I hardly believed I’d be standing in the sun and seeing so many people of all abilities having such fun.’

Between leading games of ‘What’s the Time Mr Woolf’ and the ‘Hokey Cokey’, Marty Woods of More Than Gold told the crowd, ‘The great thing about this event is that everyone is equal. Everyone has something to offer, no matter what their ability or disability. Everyone is important.’

Rev Keith Edwards, minister of Aylesbury Methodist Church, said, ‘It has been brilliant to see everyone being included. Our team of over 250 volunteers, includes some with disabilities. We just wanted to make people smile and have a fantastic start to the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games.’

One of the volunteers, Lynn Watts, said, ‘I saw a partially sighted man, led by his wife, walk across the sensorary path we created of grass, sand and pebbles. It was truly magical to see the expression on his face.’

The Paralympic opening night community festival also included strolling clowns welcoming guests, a vast range of inflatables, human table-top football, arts and crafts, face painting, a free barbecue and a big screen showing of the opening ceremony.

The media attention gained by the event included Channel 4 creating a report for their daily Paralympic breakfast programme.

The Aylesbury Church Network is also responsible for the only Paralympic live site to be run by churches. It will also be used for their annual community Festival in the Park on Saturday 1st August and for a united church service and picnic the following day.

Another report, and some more photos from the day, can be found by following this link.

TTR's on the Radio

Get your radios ready, as TTR's Youth Project Manager and Paralympian, Alan Whetherly will be appearing on a radio near you to discuss faith, sport and the paralympics (amongst other topics!)

He'll be appearing live on different local BBC radio channels on Sunday 2nd September, between 7am and 9am.

On Sunday 9th September he's a guest on Premier Radio's breakfast show from 9-10am, talking about the Paralympic Games and its legacy.

Pre-recorded interviews with Alan will also be aired on Sunday 2nd September at 9am on RNIB's insight radio (Follow this link to visit the Insight Radio site) and on Sunday 9th September at 4pm on Premier Christian Radio (Follow this link to visit the Premier Christian Radio site). We'll let you know as soon as any of these are available for listening online.

You can also hear our Chairman, Mike Townsend and Alan speaking on Radio 4's Sunday worship from the 19th August by following this link. A transcript of the service is available on that page.

Image licensed under

Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
, taken by Ian Britton and www.freefoto.com

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Mind and Soul's 'Headroom'

Saturday 3rd November - 9.30am to 5pm
Central Hall, West Tolcross, Edinburgh
Tickets: £20 before 30th Sept / £25 thereafter

Premier Mind & Soul have teamed up with Scottish Churches and Charities to create a practical, hands-on, one day event focussing on emotional health. The day is designed to equip, encourage, and empower you to engage with mental health problems in your local community. Sessions will be delivered by recognised experts from counselling and health backgrounds.

Follow this link to download the Mind and Soul Headroom flyer