The Task
In May, 2008, we will distribute 550 wheelchairs to people living with disability in impoverished communities in the Philippines. We will also raise awareness of disabiity, organize the families of the disabled into support groups, and share the good news of the Gospel. With your help, we will improve the quality of life for hundreds of people. 

The Partnership
A team of fifteen people, most of them members of Big Valley Grace Community Church in Modesto, California, have raised funds for the chairs and will travel to the Philippines May 8-20 to distribute them. The project is being coordinated by LifeWind International working in collaboration with the Free Wheelchair Mission, Irvine, California and Holistic Community Development Initiatives (HCDI) in the Philippines. The Free Wheelchair Mission is manufacturing and shipping the chairs to Cebu, and HCDI community health staff and volunteers are identifiying recipients in both rural and urban poor communities. 

Distribution in Rural Areas 
Recipients are being identified in advance by community health volunteers serving in nine different provinces and 47 communities. The Modesto team will deliver the chairs directly into the homes of those living with disability, and will invite their families to a meeting to discuss the formation of support groups. HCDI staff will follow up these meetings by mobilizing these families to work together to get their disabled children back in school, reduce stigma and shame through community awareness, make adaptive equipment using local resources, and connect with government services.
 
Distribution in Urban Areas
Churches in Cebu City have launched "The Paralytic Project" and are mobilizing their congregations to be like the friends in the Bible who who carried their paralyzed neighbor to Jesus. On the evening of May 17, the disabled will be brought to the Cebu International Convention Center to recieve their chairs and to enjoy Christian music and testimony by Filipino Pop Star, Ray An Fuentes.  A second concert will be conducted in Bacolod City on Sunday, May 18.