World of Good, Reach Out and Care Style

Welcome to another World of Good (WOG) here at The Scratching Post! This week we highlight the work of Reach Out and Care (ROC), a group that donates wheelchairs to people in developing countries.

I've spent quite a bit of time in the last two weeks looking for YouTube videos of constructive and kind things being done by the Coalition troops in Iraq. I've now got a substantial queue of videos to share. Here's the one that inspired this post. Michael Yon, private citizen and blogger wrote extensively about this effort.

These wheelchairs were donated by ROC. ROC describes their mission as follows.

Providing wheelchairs and other mobility products for people in developing countries without regard to political affiliation, religious beliefs or ethnic identity. ROC Wheels Inc., (Reach Out & Care) is a 501 (c)(3) faith-based nonprofit corporation organized to facilitate the supply of wheelchairs and other mobility devices to disabled individuals within developing countries and to further programs and education that will help reduce barriers to, and enhance mobility for these individuals.

ROC isn't just about donating wheelchairs, though. It's about setting up the construction capabilities in the developing nation so they can make their own.

The ROC Wheels Team will design and set up the production process for the pediatric wheelchairs that are designed specifically for the conditions of developing countries These wheelchairs or other mobility aides would be initially manufactured in the U.S., with future plans to manufacture them in the country of distribution. We will provide the tools necessary to set-up the manufacturing operation, complete with fitting, custom seating and repair capabilities. Our goal is to train and empower the Nationals working at manufacturing facilities to eventually gain ownership of the operation, and provide economic support for them and their community. We hope to not only provide a free wheelchair, but help people gain hope and dignity where they previously may have had none.

ROC is staffed to a large extent by volunteers. Think about that for a minute. Instead of going waterskiing or going to the baseball game, the free time of these volunteers is spent constructing and distributing wheelchairs for kids like this.

Trips made to donate the wheelchairs are family affairs. Their newsletters are filled with stories of these trips and how giving enriched the givers. Here's a snippet written by a ten-year-old who traveled with her family to Mexico on one of these trips.

I think the thing I liked most was the day I went with my parents to the wheelchair distribution place and helped give wheelchairs away. It was really cool seeing kids who had been carried around all there life, and then, in one day they are able to mobilize themselves. I had a great time in Mexico with the team.

You can find their newsletter here.

Reading this is inspiring me to look into trips like this for my own family. A vacation centered around giving of ourselves to others might be more refreshing than anything else we might do.

My WOG posts are a weekly series. I've done a whole bunch of them. You can find the full list here.