Wheelchair distribution
Earlier this year, after much effort and paperwork, 550 wheelchairs arrived in Cape Town for Hillsong Church Cape Town from the Free Wheelchair Mission in the USA. Since then, approximately 400 wheelchairs have already been assembled and distributed by Hillsong volunteers to individuals who do not have the privilege of mobility. All these individuals have not been able to benefit from a functional wheelchair through our health system, and many have been on waiting lists, or have simply resided themselves to a life confined to a bed, a chair, or a pair of crutches.
The individuals that we have been able to bless have ranged from physically disabled children, to stroke victims, individuals who have lost limbs as a result of diabetes, and senior citizens who are no longer able to move around without assistance. The majority of our wheelchair recipients are from marginalised communities around our city, where the challenge of access to basic services poses an additional burden on their lives. A vital aspect of this wheelchair project was to emphasise to recipients that although society may have forgotten about or disregarded them, they needed to know that God had not forsaken them, and that the wheelchair was a gift from God to remind them of His great love for them. All wheelchair recipients also received a manual that was made available not only in English, but also in Afrikaans and Xhosa – the two dominant languages in most of these communities.
In terms of the impact of this project, these wheelchairs have blessed the recipients by allowing them to move more freely around their community, and therefore enabling them to enjoy the activities that we so often take for granted – going to church, visiting their neighbours, going to the shops, and accessing health and social services, such as going to collect their monthly disability grant. They have also blessed the families of those caring for these individuals, by helping to ease the load that comes with caring for a disabled individual.
One family expressed the feeling that having the wheelchair meant a lot to them as they can now go places together and spend more time as a family. Another elderly lady with Parkinson’s disease was only able to move around with the aid of a stick. Due to her advanced age and the Parkinson’s, she was very worried about moving around in case she falls. Her relief and excitement was obvious to volunteers once she sat in the chair and realised that she was now able to move around and not have to worry about falling.
Volunteers noted of one elderly gentleman, an amputee, that despite his awkward lifestyle adjustment, his spirits seemed high and with tears in his eyes he said “I don’t know how to thank you, I don’t know what to say”. Another recipient thanked Hillsong Church Cape Town for their generosity and blessing him with his own wheelchair, and the volunteer responsible for handing over the wheelchair asked that “God receive all the glory for changing a man’s life and allowing him to feel special and loved”.
