We went to bed in the wee hours of the morning of Sunday, March 7 after arriving in Lima late the night before. Our plan was to rest and relax on Sunday but we did it in a very different way! Friends suggested lunch at a seafood restaurant in Callao followed by a boat trip to the Palomino Islands to see the sea lions and penguins. Having never heard of this before, we were all eager to go. Were we in for a surprise!
While the rest of our group waited for our lunch arrive, I went with a friend to buy our tickets. At the kiosk the woman (who spoke good English) described the trip as including “snacks, gaseousas (soda drinks) and swimming with the sea lions”! When I said “What?” she explained that they provided wet suits and “it is very safe”. I did not expect to really do it but it was a fun thought.
Fast forward two hours, as our boat approached the Palomino Islands with masses of sea lions everywhere. Some folks on the boat had come prepared with swim suits, knowing about the swim option – we had not. Julian immediately jumped at the chance to get in the water, and after some deliberation I decided to put on a wet suit as well. Sammie stayed on the boat with her camera and recorded the swim for posterity. For a first time jumping into the ocean from a boat it was not too bad – wearing a life preserver sure helped with the jitters! Soon we were paddling around, supervised by the staff from the boat and it was truly a once in a lifetime experience. After showers to wash off the salt water and other ocean effluvia, we slept well that night!
Waving for Sammie's camera!
Tamara and Julian after the swim
Monday morning bright and early a call came from Ana Cecelia, social worker with Yancana Huasy. She and Javier (OT at YH) arrived an hour later to meet with us and plan our work. We moved up to the rooftop terrace where it is breezy and comfortable.We felt encouraged that our wheelchair shipment exited customs on Monday and we were told we could begin work at the warehouse on Tuesday.
Tamara, Julian, Ana Cecelia and Javier - Sammie is behind the camera again!
Well, it is now Tuesday and we just learned we cannot start work today, rather we are to wait until Thursday afternoon! This eliminates the help we were to have from Stone Hill College students who are here on a spring break work trip – by then they will be home. It also conflicts with the workshop for Peruvian professionals, planned for Friday. As well, it is highly unlikely that we can finished sorting and organizing the chairs in a day and a half before the weekend begins and the warehouse closes. We are making an effort see if this can be changed – wish us luck!
I am seated in Denver International Airport, having completed one flight of three that will take me to Lima, Peru by late tonight. The next leg of my journey is from Denver to Houston, where I will meet up with Julian and Sammie for our flight to Lima. Julian left from St. Paul and Sammie from Boston – how amazing it is that we can even do this! Although we take it for granted, modern air travel is a bit beyond belief when you really think about it. For the next week Julian, Sammie and I will be preparing for the arrival of the larger team on March 13-14 and we will begin two weeks of wheelchair clinics on March 15. On March 16 we will be joined by the St. Kate’s contingent of 5 occupational therapy graduate students and Kate Barrett, their professor who worked with me to establish our collaboration with St. Catherine University as a fieldwork site. This is the third year of our student program and so far it is a smashing success. The larger team totals 15 people from around the U.S.
It has been a busy week preparing to leave. Rick and Julian both did shopping detail for supplies we needed, and Jami worked like a trooper preparing the clinical and documentation binders AND organizing our 180+ referral applications into a spreadsheet. Plus organizing me! This year Rick is remaining in Missoula, and spearheading an interactive display booth about our work at the International Food and Culture Festival. This will take place on March 14 at the University of Montana UC and I encourage any Missoula readers to stop by, say hello, and learn more about the nature of our vision and mission. There will be kid friendly activities.
As I completed packing last night I made a few last minute decisions about what personal belongings to take. Having made this trip a many times I know what I need, but for some reason I found myself tempted to take an extra thing or two that might be nice to have. Yet as I thought about it I realized they would bring complications with them. A precious aspect of this work with Eleanore’s Project is stepping away from my regular life, being single minded and living without the clutter of some stuff I take for granted at home and think that I need. Actually, I need very little and it is a gift to be reminded of that on a regular basis. It felt good to leave those extra things behind.
So, tonight we will land in Lima; Miguel will meet us with a van and take us to our home for the next two weeks, Hospedaje de las Carmelitas. We will adjust to living in Peruvian culture, and start preparing for the real reason we are there – working with the many beautiful kids and young people we will meet in the next few weeks. Please return to this blog often, as we share stories and pictures about the intersection of their lives with ours.
Welcome back to the Expedition Blog! It’s a new year (has been for a few months, now) and that means another wheelchair expedition to Peru. Tomorrow afternoon, Tamara (my mother), Sammie Wakefield (a therapist from New Hampshire) and I will meet in Houston and all fly down to Lima together. We’re the advance team and our focus will be to organize equipment, meet with our partners in Peru and make sure everything is ready for the rest of the team to arrive next week.
The past days and weeks have been a flurry of activity – I am bringing down extra tools, books for a friend and supplies for Eleanore’s Project, all in addition to the usual travel necessities. Here’s a peek inside my suitcase as I was gathering items to pack in it last night.
Starting from top left:
Four-legged vibrating massagers. Have you ever tried these little things while waiting in line at the drug store? Ever since a team member brought one of these little guys to Peru a few years ago, they have been a big hit with kids. They’re great for children who like lots of touch stimulation or need to be distracted during the less fun parts of getting their wheelchair – like waiting or getting measured. We make sure to bring a few of these massagers and extra batteries every year, and they’re always gone by the end of the trip.
Our wheelchair clinics get dirty and dusty really fast, so a well-stocked toiletry bag is essential.
Extra 7/16 inch nut drivers. The only tool you’ll ever need to adjust a Kid Chair wheelchair from Hope Haven International. Each child who receives a Kid Chair will also get one of these nut drivers so that as he or she grows, his or her family will be able to adjust the wheelchair accordingly.
Masking tape! Excellent for identifying kids, visitors and wheelchairs. We find that plain, wide masking tape makes for better, more durable name tags than the fancy ones you buy at Office Max. The purple painter’s tape is great for labeling each wheelchair with its recipient’s name. Since it’s a low-tack tape, we don’t have to worry about nasty adhesive sticking to the chairs.
Eleanore’s Project team t-shirt. Everyone on the team gets one of these quick-dry t-shirts with the Eleanore’s Project logo.
Office supplies. We keep thorough (and copious!) records of each wheelchair and where it goes. Dry erase markers, a 3-hole punch, mechanical pencils and plain ol’ gum erasers all help us do the job.
Now, of course, all of those items are safely tucked inside my suitcase. Here’s to hoping that it arrives on the same flight that I do!
It was Saturday morning, the last leg of our journey home. We were flying from St. Paul to Missoula. We had four bags to check, three of which, thanks to the generosity of our Jordanian friends and the weight of hand tools, were over 50 lb each. The time of reckoning had arrived. Since there was a three day break in our itinerary, we were no longer covered under the rules governing luggage on international flights; we had to deal with the 50 lb limit for domestic travel. Overweight bags cost $90 each for domestic flights. The bill would be $270 in overweight fees in addition to $20 for the first checked bag and $30 for the second for each passenger – a total of $370. Oh well, I thought, the cost of doing business. We tried to check in at the curbside stand provided by Delta, but Tamara’s passport would not scan, and we had to schlep all our bags inside.
As we stood in line, waiting to move up to the check in counter, I reflected that the Saturday after Thanksgiving was one of the busiest days of the year for airline travel, and prayed that we would get checked in and through security in time to catch our flight. When we finally arrived at the counter, the agent asked me if I had elite frequent flier status. I replied, “No. Not to my knowledge”. Then Tamara checked in, and we started the process of weighing and rearranging our bags. To our surprise we had been given first class seats for the final flight. One of the consequences of being a first class passenger is a two checked bag allowance with 70 lb. allowed in each bag. Our $370 bill vanished. They voided the $50 fee that I had paid for extra luggage, but could not void Tamara’s charge for some reason.
As I sit in my first class seat, with lots of extra padding and legroom, I am indeed thankful for this penultimate gift on our expedition.
The final gift is that our good friends Ike and Lucas are bringing our car and theirs to the airport to help us get our bags home from the airport. What a nice way to end things. We are indeed fortunate to have these gifts at the end of this expedition. To quote the inimitable Bilbo Baggins,
Monday, November 23 dawned bright and clear in Amman. Tamara began early by hanging clothes to dry on the roof of the hotel and with the bright sun and breeze they dried in record time. Around 10 AM our friend Ghassen met us at our hotel with one of the vans used to transport kids at Aya Center, generously loaned to us for the day. He treated us to hot zatar bread fresh from the oven at his uncle’s bakery, and we headed out for a fun day around Madaba, including stops at the baptism site of Jesus and Mt. Nebo.
The baptism site is below sea level near the Dead Sea, and when we have visited in the summer months it was extremely hot and humid with lots of black flies. This time the weather was pleasantly cool and the fly population had diminished so it was a different experience. The baptism site itself is dry, as the course of the Jordan river has changed over time; today baptisms take place and people collect water from the Jordan at a location a short distance away.
This ancient church was built at the site of Jesus baptism, but there is no water now
One of the less positive aspects was the view of a huge, modern edifice that has taken over the Israeli side of the river. Obviously built at great expense, it has replaced the natural vegetation and simple building that was there in the past. From the Jordanian side it dominates the landscape, although we saw no people there at all.
Mt. Nebo is getting a face lift, as Jordan works to develop it’s tourism industry. The magnificent mosaic floors from the old Franciscan church built to commemorate the site have been removed to a huge goat hair tent that protects them from the elements while the church itself is restored. We could still look out over the promised land viewed by Moses, but not from the same vantage point as in previous years.
Looking out from Mt Nebo
In Madaba we had a short but pleasant visit for tea with Yousef Salwaha, our dear friend who looked out for Arwen when she was a Peace Corps volunteer.
Yousef shares hospitality with tea in his shop
After a little shopping for gifts to take home, we headed back toward Amman with the goal of finding fresh olive oil to take with us. Tamara and Rick were gifted with fresh olive oil from a dear friend, Fatima, in Irbid, but we wanted more to share with our daughters and others. Fortunately this is the olive harvest season and we stopped first at the home of Ghassen’s uncle, who gifted us with 2-3 liters of fresh oil from his trees. Then as we were driving we found an olive oil pressing station where we were able to see the whole process from start to finish. It was a fascinating experience, from the moment we opened the van doors and were flooded by the wonderful smell of fresh olive oil.
Freshly harvested olives
At one side of the building were farmers with large bags of fresh olives, that were weighed and poured into a separator that washed them and removed the leaves. From there we saw them ground into a sort of paste in a large machine with a rotating blade, the next step before the actual pressing of the oil. At the other end of the building the freshly pressed virgin olive oil was caught in containers. The guys working there were very nice and invited us in close to the machines so we could see the process.
Bags of olives waiting to be processed
Olives are washed and separated from the leaves
Olives ground into paste
Collecting olive oil at the end
We were a novelty as the only non-Jordanians in a place not typically seen by tourists! In fact, Jordanian friends told us that they had never actually seen the process themselves, so we were lucky. The oil is sold in bulk and people bring their own containers to fill. Since we had none, Ghassen bought a 6 liter pack of water so we could use the bottles. Wasting water in Jordan is unthinkable so we took the bottles into the building and gave them to everyone we could find to drink. Eventually we had empty bottles that were filled with the freshest olive oil anyone can experience.
Filling our empty water bottles with fresh olive oil
It was such a fun way to end our day, and was topped off by one last delicious Jordanian dinner where we were joined by Hiba and Jehad from Aya Center and their three daughters, Aya, Gamar and Ariam.
Hiba from Aya Center with two of her daughters, Aya and Ariam.
Delicious bread, eaten with every meal
Matubbal, hummous and tabouli
Mixed grill kabobs made with lamb, chicken and vegetables
We left Jordan exhausted, but also satisfied with the work our small group accomplished, the increased awareness about properly fitting wheelchairs and promising young people such as Islam who are eager to carry on. The past two weeks have taught us much about what is and is not sustainable in Jordan. We hope to continue involvement in developing sustainable wheelchair services in Jordan but it will need to be done differently than our model of the last 4 years. We believe that Jordan is ready to take the next step in developing sustainable wheelchair services that can be a model in the Middle East. In’shallah it will happen.
Our work ended on Sunday November 22,when we finished wheelchairs for several children at Aya Center. Watching Obida and Qosay, brothers with Duchenne muscular dystrophy as they drove around in their new power chairs was such fun – they quickly got the hang of driving and using the right gentle touch on the sensitive joysticks. We also completed new seating for Aya (namesake of Aya Center) and a new wheelchair for her younger sister, Gamar. We all felt exhausted after 12 days of work, with excessively long days and no real break.
Islam and Scott attach a backrest with lateral support to Qosay's power wheelchair
Rima Zurakeit, founder of Family and Friends came by and we discussed present and future wheelchair needs in Jordan and possible ways to move forward in a sustainable way.
Tamara, Rima and Hiba discuss wheelchair needs in Jordan
As our time in Jordan progressed we had less and less appropriate equipment from which to choose. In particular we ran short of children’s wheelchairs with many large adult chairs remaining. In a few cases we had to turn families away because we had nothing appropriate, or what we could offer (a large adult chair with seating sized down to the child) is not acceptable to them – usually because of the bulky size and consequent difficulty in transporting it. This has been discouraging – always in the past we had extra pediatric chairs to leave behind, but this time we could not even meet the needs of the kids who had been referred to us. What it does showcase, is the enormous need for appropriate wheelchairs here in Jordan, as in so many parts of the world.
On Sunday afternoon we divided most of our tools and supplies to leave with various people here in Jordan who will put them to good use. The OTs and PTs at Aya Center have hand tools to adjust chairs as needed. Another more complete set goes to the Eleanore’s Project Jordanian team, who will finish fitting wheelchairs in Madaba and Al Fohais and provide follow-up as they are able.
Last but not least, we left our power drill and jig saw, nuts and bolts, tire pump and many other tools with Islam, a young man who received an ultralight wheelchair on one of our first work days at Family and Friends Society for Persons with Disabilities. Islam will put the tools to excellent use as he provides support and maintenance for many of the wheelchairs we have provided, especially at Family and Friends and Aya Center. He is one of those people who works from the heart. Islam is an artist in pottery, but also has an eye for modifying wheelchairs and seating and he is very good wih tools. On the day he was evaluated for his wheelchair (while the container was still in customs) Islam stayed on and helped as others were evaluated, translating for us and supporting those who needed help. He volunteered to help us at the warehouse after the chairs arrived, sorting and fixing equipment as needed. On the first day of clinics the chair earmarked for Islam did not work out, yet he stayed on helping fit and modify wheelchairs for everyone else at Family and Friends and when we were done there, he volunteered to help us at Aya Center. The next day it was our great pleasure to fit him with a TiLite titanium wheelchair that could not go to a better owner. Islam will make full use of it while helping others and continuing with his art. We were so glad to give him the tools to get started in a new direction of helping other wheelchair users.
Majdi, Robert and Islam early in the trip with Islam in his new chair - Majdi received his soon after.
We spent Saturday, November 21 in Al Fohais, a short trip north of Amman. Our work site was the former sanctuary of the Catholic church and quarters were tight. They became even tighter as many more people arrived than we expected. Because of our small team, tight schedule and overwork, our Jordanian colleagues had chosen eight severely involved clients (out of 23 total) for us to see in Fohais and planned to fit the remaining wheelchairs themselves. Somehow there was a misunderstanding and people just kept coming on Saturday and were convinced we were returning to work again on Sunday. After an initial morning rush we had a lull which was deceiving for at that point we had completed chairs for only two of the eight scheduled clients (plus three more who came anyway and insisted on staying).
Rick and Peace Corps volunteers Emily and Shane take a break during our mid-day lull in activity
This was, of course, the calm before the storm. Shortly after this picture was taken 3 clients with severe disabilities arrived at once and we were slammed for the rest of the day, until 8:15 at night! See a picture story of one child below – Mohammed is one of so many kids whose only sitting experience has been in an adult size folding chair with no support. Finding a way to seat him for better function that he was able to tolerate was a challenge, because of his very tight muscles and contractures.
It takes a team - Tamara, Michelle and Scott begin evaluating Mohammed
Mohammed was able to control his head when we helped him in other places
Michelle works with Mohammed to help him relax
Mohammed, his mother and sister watch the process
Not complete yet, but Mohammed tries out his new chair while Michelle and Scott confer
While Mohammed’s chair was created for him, Moataz and Samia’s wheelchairs were underway as well. They both needed custom molded backrests for which we use foam-in-place technology that takes the shape of a person’s body. Most of the work is in preparing the wheelchair frames and seating bases prior to pouring the foam – see Rick below.
Rick removes stapled upholstery from a planar backrest that will soon become a customized shape for Samia
At the end of the day we were reunited with an old friend, Yousf Haddad. Yousf is now 17 and this is our 3rd year working with him on wheelchair seating. His needs are incredibly unique, and after two years trying we have established that molded seating does not work for him. Although he does not speak, through yes/no questions he clearly let us know that he wanted support that did not limit his ability to move – ruling out another foam in place. In the end we sent him home with a new backrest and various foam pieces that can be moved and changed as he wishes, two seat cushions (one firm and one soft) and a new headrest (with the Allen key that will allow his brother to adjust it as needed. It was so great to see Yousf again and to work with him and his family as a team.
Everyone had input while re-doing Yousf's seating
We finished at 8:15 PM, and headed back to Amman an exhausted but satisfied group. That such a small team could do so much with so little was amazing – we completed 13 people that day.
Since the last post, we completed work in Al Karak and traveled north back to Amman on Thursday, November 19. The Darna Apartment Hotel near Arab Community College and Jordan University has begun to feel like home with familiar beds and surroundings.
We bid farewell to Carolyn and Robert that night; they left for the airport at 5 AM the next morning going home to Nova Scotia. They are an amazing team (brother and sister) who brought great seating and technical skills with a good amount of imagination! That left us with a smaller group to work in Madaba and Al Fohais on Friday and Saturday – Michelle, Scott, Rick and Tamara. Fortunately, we were joined on Friday by Susann, a physical therapist we first met in 2006. She was a great asset and as it happened, one of our clients was even a girl she had known at a much younger age!
On the way to the New Orthodox School in Madaba, our work site, Susann treated us to breakfast at a bakery on the way. There were so many options it was hard to choose – but Tamara’s personal favorite, zatar on bread warm from the oven, is pictured below. Zatar is made from thyme, sesame seeds and other goodies and is said to promote clearer thinking and better memory – just what we needed at that point! Many kids eat it in the morning before going to school.
Breakfast hot from the oven!
Two lucky children in Madaba received Hope Haven Kid Chairs, which are easy to adjust and modify – including Omar, below. We had only a few Kid Chairs in this shipment and have missed them, as we spent hours reconstructing re-furbished chairs to meet the same needs.
Tamara and Susann contrive straps to separate Omar's knees and improve his posture
Tamara took great pleasure in fitting a nice ultra light wheelchair for Dr. Nuha, who works with children who have severe disabilities at Our Lady of Peace Center near Madaba. We met her in 2006 and were so impressed with her warmth and the obvious trust she inspired in parents and children. She became paraplegic 23 years ago in a car accident and Tamara has wanted her to have a new chair for a long time. This year she finally agreed and it was great fun to see her maneuvering easily and quickly when she invited us to her house for tea at the end of the day!
Getting Nuha's new chair just right for her
We actually finished a bit early and had time to view the famous Madaba Map mosaic on the floor to St. George’s Orthodox Church, next to the school. Created from naturally colored stone, it dates back to 785 AD and depicts many well known sites in the Holy Land. It was the first viewing for Michelle and Scott and Susann had not seen it since she was a child.
Michelle and Susann near the Madaba map mosaic
Very soon after this a wedding party arrived, effectively blocking us and our equipment in the the school because the parking lot filled and our bus could not enter! In one of those detours that seem to happen all the time here, Abu Malek brought the bus around to the street, we transferred Nuha and her chair into the bus, and went to her house for tea and snacks until the wedding was over. Of course, but by the time we went back the wedding was done and the gates were locked against us. A quick call to Rizan alerted Lucy, wife of the priest at the church and she sent someone to unlock the gate for us. We loaded our bus, Nuha went on her way in her car and our day was done.
Ro’a was the last child with whom we worked on our first day in Al Karak. She was the perfect candidate for a wheelchair from us because she was only three years old. The wheelchairs that we create for the children are not only back savers for their moms, but therapeutic for the children as well. By correcting conditions early in life, we give the children a better chance to minimize the development of more severe deformities in later life.
As you can see, Ro’a is really cute. We actually had no chair earmarked for her; Tamara had been told that she only needed one a few months ago because she had “broken hips”. Instead, she has cerebral palsy and is one of triplets. We had an extra Kid Kart adaptive stroller that did not work out for an earlier child in Irbid, and so we transported it in the bus to Al Karak. It turned out to be perfect for Ro’a, who was quite verbal. Rob and others who were working on her chair had a great deal of fun with her, playing games with her and laughing. Ro’a and children like her really make our days.
This is a story of mistakes, disappointment, communication and hope – all for the sake of one eight year old child named Mohammed. It illustrates the lengths to which we and our friends will go to improve the life of a family and a child.
The story starts in the warehouse in Amman where the wheelchairs are stored. One type of wheelchair that we provide is the Hope Haven International Kid Chair. It always comes packaged in a box and must be assembled. When Tamara was working in the warehouse unpacking the wheelchairs a week ago Monday, she saw an extra wheel for a Kid Chair. It lodged in her mind as an anomaly, something to note.
Ten days later at Al Karak, we opened a box for a Kid Chair, and were horrified to see just one wheel. A wheelchair with only one wheel is absolutely useless. Right away, Tamara remembered the odd wheel in the warehouse. But, how could we get it? Amman is 125 kilometers, two hours away, and there is no easy way to transport things from there to us. Mohammed was waiting to receive his wheelchair, but we asked his family to take him home and bring him back the next day.
Our friend and coordinator Rizan in Amman was travelling to Al Karak for her job the next day, making a monitoring visit at a special education center. Tamara called Rizan to explain the situation. Rick took a photo of the lone wheel in our possession, and downloaded it to the laptop where Tamara transferred the photo to her flash drive. Then she and Hala, our contact at the Cerebral Palsy Foundation in Karak, drove with Abu Malek (our bus driver) to an internet café to email the photo to Rizan and Aya Centre (owners of the storage space). Tamara was grateful for her improved touch typing skills in the last two years, since the keyboard was entirely in Arabic letters!
Rizan called to confirm that she had received the email with the photo, and asked Tamara to call Ghassen, another good friend in Amman who helps us a great deal and has a car. He agreed to call Rizan and have her forward the photo to him, so that he could identify and pick up the wheel and take it to her. So, the next morning, Rizan arrived with the wheel for Mohammed’s wheelchair, and he received the custom fitted wheelchair that he needed – with two wheels.
Rizan and Tamara with the long lost wheel!
Michelle and Abu Malek work with Mohammed and his wheelchair
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