September 12 Wheelchair Giveaway in Danli Honduras

What an exhilarating way to spend a Saturday! Today we were able to provide 40 people with brand new wheelchairs. Below are individual photos of the recipients and group photos.

A huge THANK YOU to Dr. Catherine Taylor Foster and to her father's trust (Jack DeLoss Taylor Trust) for their generous donation to SMART to help make this and other wheelchair giveaways possible.

Thank you Pastor Walter of Amor Viviente Church in Danli, Honduras and thank you to my friend Ileana Colindres for introducing me to her cousin Pastor Walter.

Ileana Colindres the fireball who made this all possible.

Jose Benavides explains the proper use of the wheelchairs.




This young man was my favorite today. He was all talk and wants to run for congress and be a computer specialist. He wants a computer that does graphics and besides all that he preaches at his church.

This lady had a rough morning. Someone else made the request for the wheelchair and didn't tell her. When she didn't arrive, the people from the church went to get her. She was unaware of the blessing she was about to receive and when she arrived and realized she cried and cried for almost an hour. She was so grateful and she just could not stop saying "gracias".

This little one is 11 years old. That is correct she is 11 years old and she looks like she is 3. That sad look is only when she sees a camera, the rest of the time she is smiling.

We gave this little one a seat belt later, but we have found if we try to give out the seat belts with everyone there, everyone wants one and not everyone needs one.

This is a man who has no home and no family and lives at the market day and night and begs for food. When he arrived carried in by his friends he was our "loud mouth". He would not be quiet until we put him in his seat. "The squeaky wheel gets the oil" is the phrase for the day.

There is always one person that is super happy and this time it was this young girl. She was all smiles the entire time.

This little one cried and then slept and slept and slept. She was not used to being out of her house.

The black eye reveals how badly this lady needed her wheelchair. She feel "again" this week as she hobbled around the house.

Her legs are permanently crossed.

She received a seat belt after the crowd was gone.

This is a former police officer who was shot and paralyzed while chasing bad guys. In Honduras the police do not have enough money to help buy a wheelchair for policemen shot on duty, so Free Wheelchair Mission and SMART Medical Teams are helping.

This young man is so intelligent, his bones are all twisted and deformed as are those of his 2 cousins (one is the next photo below) and his aunt who also received wheelchairs today. Imagine 4 people from one family and none had ever had the chance to own a wheelchair before.