Rotary World Help Network Does Change Lives

I just had to tell you these stories- yes, RWHN changes lives.  Yesterday i spent the day with Tom Musili, the head of Computers for Schools Kenya, who is also a Rotarian.  He wanted to take me way out of Nairobi into the country and our destination was on the plateau well beyond Thika, down African roads that make you eat dust and diesel.  We delivered one of RWHN's wheelchairs to an old lady who had fallen and broken her hip.  The hip has been repaired, but she is so elderly and fragile she can only sit on a hard, homemade wooden chair all day - so uncomfortable - and is unable to move without support on both sides.  We unloaded the chair on the tiny, dusty shamba and showed her and her family how to use it: how to put on the brakes and install the pedals. etc. Her smile was worth the trip.  She now sits on a thick, foam cushion and has mobility.  Her little grandchildren were pushing her around and this made such a difference.

 

Later that same day, we visited a former chief and one of his wives, again on a dusty shamba with dos , chickens, and goats roaming around.  He has been using one of our walkers now for four years.  Before that he literally could not move prior to receiving the walker and Tom, who delivered it, had to instruct him on how to use it.  Having the walker transformed his life and it is literally joined to him, so much so that he has now worn off the rubber on the ties and Tom will arrange to have the wheels replaced.  When the chief's wife heard that I had been involved in her husband receiving the chair, she chose the biggest, fattest chicken and insisted that I accept it as a gift.  Then her husband realized whom I represented, and he insisted I be given a second chicken.  So there I was, holding two live, squawking birds while their legs were being tied together.  We threw them in the back of the car, and they squawked all the way to Nairobi.  Fortunately Tom has some chickens on his property so they joined his flock.  I don't think the hotel would have been too thrilled had I kept them, but the point is that people are so truly grateful for the items we send.  We often just see the bigger picture, but our help is really all about the individual, and yesterday I had the privilege of witnessing that phenomenon. It was humbling.

 

Sincerely

Bonnie