Wheelchair Recipients & Specialist

This month we had nine new wheelchair recipients. There is such a great need for wheelchairs here due to the amount of amputations that happen because of the diabetes problem here in the South Pacific.  We are currently working on a project that we hope can make a difference in the people's lives here in Tonga.  We are partnering with the Ministry of Health and the National Diabetes  Center here in Tongatapu.  Once we get the project going we will be doing a lot of education seminars teaching the people how to prevent diabetes and what are the major signs to watch for.  That if they do have the symptoms they will not wait too long to go in for medical attention.  That has been a big problem here, that they wait too long and then all the doctors can do is amputate toes, feet and legs, therefore they then end up in a wheelchair for the rest of their life, especially the older people.  The younger ones we are hoping to at least get them on crutches so that they will still be somewhat active, because the ones that end up in the wheelchairs then put on a lot of extra weight which does not help their diabetes.
We also was able to donate two small wheelchairs to the Paediatric Ward in Viaola Hospital.  They were so very happy to receive them.  They informed us that their only chair that they had had just broke that very day.  The Lord did guide us on this mission!

 Following are some pictures of some of the recipients and Viola Hospital that we visited during February.

Elder Murdock loading a wheelchair on the ferry headed to 'Eua for a recipient there.

This lady received her wheelchair from her granddaughter who passed away at age 53 due to diabetes. This lady is 93 years old and has a hard time walking.

This sweet lady has had half of her foot amputated and will have a hard time walking from now on!

This is a former Stake President and his feet and legs are bad so he can not get around without a wheelchair.

This man has a difficult time getting around.  While we were assessing him his family were eating, I think, fish and manioke with their hands.  They usually do not use utensil here.

This little lady has had a stroke and is partially paralyzed on the left side. If you notice the clothes hanging in the back ground, it was wash day and the wire is barb wire.  They snag the clothes on the barbs and wrap them around to get them to stay hanging.  We thought that was rather unique!.

This gentlemen is not a member of the church, but he has had two sons go on missions and are married in the temple.  He has problems with his heart and is on oxygen.  He can only walk about 5 or 6 feet and he is done in!.

This little lady just got home from the hospital from having half of her foot amputated.  She was not feeling well enough for us to get her into her chair.  They were changing her bandage when we arrived.

These are the two wheelchairs that we were able to donate to the Pediatric Ward in Viola Hospital.

This is Elder Murdock and Lopo, our wheelchair technician who puts them together for us, on their way to the Pediatrics Ward.

Here we are in the Pediatrics Ward.  The one young man on the left was very weak and had to be lifted into the chair and the other little one was not too happy about his Mom putting him the chair and stepping back.  We were pleased to see how nice the Pediatrics Ward was decorated.

We also had William and Roylene Schnebly arrive from Salt Lake City.  They are the wheelchair specialist for the church.  They came to see how our progress was on the current project, check inventory as to what we have left, and to meet with the assessors to see if they are having any problems. While they were here we went around Tongatapu and did follow up assessments to see if they were having any problems with the chairs and to make sure they were fitting them properly.  We also had a meeting with Ministry of Health to see if they wanted to continue partnering with us on another wheelchair project since our inventory is pretty much gone.  We concluded that yes they still want to partner with us and would like us to continue with another project.  We also had a meeting with all the assessors on Tongatapu and following the meeting we took them all to dinner at the Evergreen Restaurant.

This is Roylene and William Schnebly, the church wheelchair specialist.  She is a RN and he is a physical therapist.

This is our meeting with the Ministry of Health.  From left to right - William Schnebly, Roylene Schnebly, Ana Ika, Elder and Sister Murdock, and the Ministry of Health.

Here is Elder Murdock and Brother Schnebly repairing a wheelchair.

This wheelchair recipient is Brother Schnebly's mission companion from here in Tonga.  It was a tearful reunion!  His wife was also a missionary in Tonga as well with Brother Schnebly.  This man had a fall from a tree and has been just laying in his bed for about a year.  Within a few minutes of  Brother Schnebly working on him, he was sitting up and able to do things that he had not done in a long time.

Here are former missionaries of Tonga. A joyful reunion!

Brother Schnebly is teaching this lady how to maneuver the wheelchair up and down little steps they have in their home.

This is our assessor meeting in the conference room at our office.  It was a very informative meeting.  We were taught a lot of things that we were not doing, so hopefully we can do our job better!

Here we are at the Evergreen Restaurant for a fun evening meal.  It has been a great day!

"We have no way of knowing when our privilege to extend a helping hand will unfold before us.  The road to Jericho  that each of us travels bears no name, and the weary traveler who needs our help may be one unknown."   Thomas S. Monson