TUESDAY:
We met Marcelina in 2018 when Korie and Alicia told us about a woman who might need a cane to help her walk. Nancy, Tiffanie and Nanette went to visit Marcelina and they were able to help fit her with a cane that would be helpful for her in getting around. It was a bonus that the cane had a pretty floral print on it, since Marcelina does beautiful embroidery.
In planning for 2019, Korie and Alicia arranged for a ramp to be built onto Marcelina’s house, to help her get in and out of her home with her increasing mobility issues. When we drove up to the house, Nancy, Tiffanie and Nanette remembered Marcelina and introduced her to the rest of the team. Marcelina welcomed us into her home and showed us that she still had her cane and used it with another cane to help her walk with her weak knee. Nancy helped evaluate her needs and we gave Marcelina some rice and beans and a New Testament. When Marcelina saw the Bible, her face lit up and when asked, she said that she couldn’t choose a favorite Bible verse. She quickly decided on John 3:16 as her favorite.
Marcelina also showed the group some of her beautiful embroidery work and told us that she draws the floral designs by hand, and then embroiders to fill in the picture before using the fabric to make a dress.
Korie and his boys and Norm got to work removing the existing stairs which were in poor repair. They had a plan for building the ramp to extend off of Marcelina’s porch and down into the yard, with landings to make it not too steep.
While they worked, we visited some neighbors, the Rolands, who we had met and built a ramp for in 2018. It was good to see them again and to see how well Mr. Roland had done with getting around after his leg was amputated a year ago.
After lunch, we all went back over to see the finished ramp and brought Marciela a rollator to help her get around even better, especially to go around the corner to her church. We prayed for Marciela and she shared how grateful she was to God for helping her. She explained that just days before, she had been telling her daughter that she was afraid of falling on her broken-down stairs. The next day, Alicia came to let Marciela know that Access-Life would be building her a ramp. God provided for Marciela and let her know that she was not alone, and in the process, allowed us all to be a conduit of his blessing
WEDNESDAY:
On Wednesday, we went to meet Jamire, a 12-year-old boy with an above-the-knee amputation due to cancer. He uses crutches, but needed a ramp built to be able to have easier access into his home. We also were providing a scooter for Jamire and the ramp will allow him to get it in and out of the house when he goes to school.
When the team arrived at his house, his aunt greeted us and the crew got started building the ramp. After a few minutes, Jamire came out and our PTs, Nancy and Janet, did a brief evaluation and were able to help adjust his crutches to be at a better height for helping him gain upper body strength.
Once the frame for the ramp was built, several members of the team helped to drill the planks in. Korie showed Jamire how to drill and he got to put in several planks on his own ramp! After the ramp was completed, the team prayed for Jamire and his aunt.
Jamire was able to come to the Expo on Saturday and received the scooter. While he was at the Expo, Jamire got to have his photo taken with the reigning Queen of the Bay, Belize, Miss Jennylee Cruz. Jennylee also volunteered her time to help with the lunch served to Expo participants.
THURSDAY:
On Thursday, Korie and the Boys, plus Norm, built a ramp at Kuxlin Ha Government School. Two new students are starting soon, and one girl named Catherine, uses a power chair donated by Access-Life. Her sister, Lyrica, is unable to speak.