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| A visit to Windsor, Ontario - Tim Aline Rebeaud to call for wheelchair donation |
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A feeling of joy and happiness has passed through all volunteers in Maison Chance Canada when they received the pictures from Vietnam. All donated wheelchairs have finally reached received warmest welcome from their new owners. Not only brought to Maison Chance’s members, some wheelchairs were also given to three poor families who are searching for a wheelchair support in the local district.
During the trip, we came to meet our volunteers in Windsor. This is a great chance to express our deep gratitude for their kind support in providing wheelchairs for the needed. Windsor, Ontario Windsor is located in the southeast of Ontario and connected to Detroit, Michigan in the United States by Detroit River. It is a city of automotive industry and rock salt mine. It is home of Chrysler headquarters and its minivan assembly plant as well as of Ford’s spare-part subsidiaries. Windsor salt is a production of this land, playing a key role in food industry, water refining and agriculture. Windsor Salt is also used for melting ice on streets in winter to reduce the rate of traffic accidents. It took us 45 minutes to head south to Leamington, the Tomato Capital of Canada. Immense tomato fields here are the main source of supply to produce and distribute H.J. Heinz’s ketchup to all regions of Canada. The production line consumes 280,000 tons of tomatoes and meanwhile generating employment for nearly 800 local residents each year. Apart from ketchup, H.J. Heinz is also the producer of around 480 products including baby food, pasta, tomato juice, tomato sauce with spices, snacks and appetizers ... etc. It took us around 4-hour driving from Toronto to Windsor. We arrived at our local volunteer’s house. His name is Vo Thanh Kinh and he was really kind and attentive. Everything was all well-arranged for us, from the chairs for Tim’s meeting, the meal, the evening tea to our accommodation.
Mr. Kinh and Ms. Phung Tien
Mr. Kinh took us the storage in which wheelchairs donated by the several organizations helping disabled people were kept. There were currently 12 wheelchairs donated in this funding. All were carefully wrapped up against weather’s effect and marked with serial numbers in case customs check was required. Tim was so joyful with her strong facial expressions that she and Kinh took one wheelchair for trial right away. One pushed the wheelchair and the other rolled it in turn. Both were amazed at the quality of the wheelchair. “It’s perfectly light for a spinal-injured person to lift. It’s excellent, excellent.” – said Tim with a bright smile. Perhaps, it’s worth a visit to Maison Chance Vietnam to see the importance of a good wheelchair to the disabled’s daily activities. Iron wheelchairs made in Vietnam or China were usually of inconvenience for the hemiplegic or the paralyzed. The wheelchair is too heavy (up to 20-25kg) for them to control as well as for other people, say drivers, to help bring or move the vehicle on travel occasions. Moreover, the iron wheelchair was likely subject to rust damage due to high humidity and rainy season in Vietnam. In contrast, American wheelchairs were made of aluminum and twice light as iron ones, making it much easier for both the owners and drivers to fold and put into a car. Behind the storage lied along the small place in which cushions for wheelchairs were kept. In Vietnam, a cushion might cost an arm and a leg. A good one was very useful to the disabled, making the movement patterns more comfortable and steady. Moreover, it helped distribute the weight pressure evenly on the surface and reduced risks of sores when having a prolonged sedentary posture. An ideal one should fit all body shape and have strong elasticity for extensive moves as well. Those cushions were such a precious treasure to us. Another lovely volunteer was Ms. Phung Tien, who were so whole-heartedly seeking wheelchair donation for us. She was the one who worked with the executive board of John McGivney organization, the Disable children’s home in order to raise a softly-used wheelchair donation program. For each wheelchair given, she contacted to Mr. Kinh to have it fully checked and repaired if necessary. Then it was transported to Montreal to fulfill all customs regulation before flying to Vietnam. A wheelchair to Vietnam is definitely a concerted effort of all Maison Chance Canada members. Back to Mr. Kinh house, behind his house was a two-compartment bamboo hut. One compartment was used as the coal kitchen. There’s a hammock swinging in the center and a hanging TV at the corner. It’s the place where the whole family gathered on such rare, warm summer days in this land. An intimate talk
Some friends came to visit Tim and we began the talk at 8pm. Tim presented our recent activities since the inauguration of Village Chance. Some future projects till the 20th anniversary of Maison Chance were also brought out. Some asked: “So will you stay in Vietnam?” “I guess so”, Tim said and smiled. Tim also showed them the short documentary named “Fairy tales from Village Chance”. I could see through their eyes a feeling of deep sympathy for what they had seen in the film. The talk kept going on in a friendly manner. It’s a bit funny when most of our friends started the conversation with Tim in English: “Hi Tim, how are you?”, and then somebody else to suggest: “Go with Vietnamese, why English?” There’s just a few of us on that day, but the talk’s really interesting and warm. Led by our encouragement, Mr. Kinh raised up the idea of building a branch of Maison Chance in Windsor, which was such a great joy to us. At the end of the day, no one but all had to say goodbye because they must go to the office the day after. Lu, Le, Giao, Kim and her nephew helped us to put all wheelchairs into the car while Bi, Kim, Truc and Dao were talking to Tim until midnight. Kinh and Dao gave us a big treat with pizza, fruits, tea and beer, etc. The talk was filled up with big laughters as if we had known each others for ages. Tim stayed up late working on her emails and the workload as usual.
Canada friends The sound of knocking door woke us up the next morning. We got a call from Phung Tien asking us to wait for her as she wanted to accompany us to John McGivney organization. We arrived there at 10:30am. After completing security check and being informed about camera regulation, we got ready for the visit. We were first introduced to Mr. Gerry Demers, the person-in-charge of technique and maintenance department. He took us to his office and showed us all different kinds of products for the disabled. We then met Ms. Tracy Roberts, the Occupational Therapist. Her job was to provide treatment methods for patients who were suffering from a mentally, physically, developmentally, or emotionally disabling condition. Occupational therapist took on supervisory roles not only in the restoration of basic motor functions and reasoning abilities, but also in the compensation for permanent loss of function.
Tim gave the DVD "Fairy tales from Village Chance" with English subtitle to Gerry Demers and Ms. Tracy Roberts as a token of gratitude. The pictures of ten recipients of wheelchairs were also given to the organization as souvenirs. Tim said goodbye to Gerry and Tracy with a warm handshake before going to another department. One side was touched to witness the power of love that had gone beyond any difference in skin color or race. Another was moved when receiving the whole-hearted thanks of the unfortunate from the other side of the globe.
Next, we visited the home of disabled children where they studied and underwent therapy as well. It’s also a playground for them. It’s a pity that camera was not allowed around this area. We met Ms. Sharron Burk here. She’s a sympathizer of Maison Chance for times. She felt regretful when her husband was away and couldn’t meet Tim. We had another intimate talk and the visit ended with a bright hope. We saw lots of pictures of children with positive achievements displayed along the corridor for the encouragement purpose.
Sincerity from Windsor We finished our visit at 12:30pm. We were late compared to the schedule. However, Kinh drove us quickly to a nursing home called Maisonville Court. Tim went to meet the management board to send a thank for their donation support. Then we went to Pho Nguyen Hoang restaurant for lunch. Ms. Hanh had waited for us at the bus stop in front of the restaurant. She welcomed Tim with a big hug when we arrived. She gave Phung Tien some money as a donation for the disabled children and parted us. Many thanks for your kind deed. Pho was the number one choice for an empty stomach in such cold weather. Noodle bowls pervaded us with their super taste. And one more wonderful surprise! All of them were free. “It’s the treat of Tim to us”, said Ms. Dung, the owner of the restaurant. We also received two take-away glassed of coffee with milk. Ms. Dung, on behalf of other members, gave us a little financial support to help bring wheelchair to Vietnam. We will never forget their charitable heart.
It’s until 2:30pm when we left Windsor and the minivan was filled up with wheelchairs. We stopped by Phung Tien’s house. She asked for Tim’s signature on some pictures which would be given to our Canada friends as souvenirs. She ran away and came back with an envelope from a benefactor named Dinh Lang. On behalf of the rest, Phung Tien invited Tim for another trip to Windsor in the very near future. And Tim must stay longer to meet up all of our friends. We felt so relaxing on the way back to Toronto even though we were in a hurry to drive very fast to meet up everybody at 6pm. We talked and recalled every happening within the day, feeling so warm with the love of our friends in this city. Gerry Demers, Sharron Burk, Dahman Burk, Tracy Roberts must be very happy when they knew that these wheelchair would change the life of Vietnamese disabled people. Thank you Windsor, thank you sincere people who have left your great love in our hearts. Now, Tim had more dear friends to sympathize and support her for the fulfillment her missions on the long journey ahead. 06-11-2011
Nguyễn Thanh Nhã |
