With our common motto “Together, for mobility”, Invacare proudly supports Free Wheelchair Mission a non-profit organization that enables people with disabilities across the developing world to access a wheelchair. Without this cause, many people would be deprived of their dignity and independence. Learn more about Elba and Johannes, two recent recipients of a much-needed wheelchair.

Elba’s story

Since the age of 10, Elba worked in the fields, waking up early while it’s still dark to go plant yucca, taro and more. Over the years, she experienced a bone disease that gradually lost her the ability to stand upright. When she later developed kidney problems that caused hypertension and swelling in her legs, crawling across the wooden floor to get about her home became ever more common. 
As a widow without sufficient financial resources to support herself, Elba depended on help from her neighbour to assist her with her daily tasks. Her children also became farmers in these low-production lands, which financially makes it difficult for them to buy medicine or vitamins to help strengthen her bones and muscles to improve her mobility. 
Through a local radio station, Elba became aware of Free Wheelchair Mission’s distribution partner in the area. Getting to and around the stony streets of Kisalaya, an indigenous community in Nicaragua was impossible without someone to carry her, so Free Wheelchair Mission agreed to come to her house. When Free Wheelchair Mission arrived, they saw her come crawling out of her house, ever-so grateful that a wheelchair had arrived for her. 

“Thank you, thank you. I did not think they would come so quickly. Now, my children can take me out... My arms were tired, as were my legs, but now it’s like I have new arms and legs!”
Elba Poveda, 64 years old, Kisalaya, Nicaragua

Johannes’s story

As a Commander of the Community Policing Forum’s Street Patrollers in Hillbrow, Johannes was a very active man. Suddenly he woke up during the night, finding that he could not stand up and that his left side of his body was paralysed. His family took him to the hospital where doctors diagnosed a stroke. He spent some time in hospital but was later sent home with his wife and son. His work colleague, Simon was desperate to help him and contacted Free Wheelchair Mission.
On the drive to Johannes’s home, the Free Wheelchair Mission team noticed the lack of infrastructure in the area –gravel roads in really bad condition as well as sewage running down the side of streets. Johannes and his family live in a drafty 1 room tin shack. There in a chair behind the front door sat Johannes with a deep sadness in his voice for his situation. 

“It all happened so quickly and now my life has changed so much. I never thought my family would need to take care of me,”
Johannes Moraudu, 57 years old, Johannesburg, South Africa

Without a wheelchair his son and wife would have to carry him in and out of his home, whilst his friend Simon assisted in transporting him to the hospital. 
Free Wheelchair Mission arrived with a new wheelchair and helped Johannes outside into the morning sunshine to do some adjustments. He was so grateful that this wheelchair could provide him with some independence again as well alleviating the pressure on his family. You could even hear the smile in his voice when he received this life changing gift.