Meet the Chasing McDaniel's Team

Son-in-law Danny, Friend Laura, Dad Tom, Daughter Erin, Mom Pat, Friend Natalie, Son Tommy


Pat and Tom


Daughter Erin with Dad Tom


Son Tommy and Dad Tom


The Chasing McDaniel's Team with Red Cross Partners

STORY OF NGUYEN NGOC MINH

After finishing the ceremony, an over 50 year old woman was trying to find someone from GIBTKs to say thank you for the wheelchair she got. When I came to listen to what she wanted to say to donors, I heard the word “thank you” all the time. She confided in tear “I am very happy to get a wheelchair for my husband today. He is happy, too. I really want to come here to see and touch it, but he can’t come because he has been in paralyzed situation for 15 years.” She hastily dried her tears and continued talking “I can’t keep my tear inside because my dream of getting a wheelchair for my husband becomes true. My husband got cardiovascular accident for 15 years, so he just stays in bed and can’t move. There were a few wheelchairs bought by my family in order to help me with taking care of him, but they already got broken. He really wants to go out to see the outside world with a wheelchair but I am just a poor farmer, so I can’t buy one more for him. Poor him!” She continues talking in an emotional voice: “My husband got up at 3 o’clock in the early morning to wake me up to prepare breakfast for him before going to receive this wheelchair and told me you shouldn’t forget to go there.” “My husband and I are so happy that we couldn’t sleep last night. We just hope time will pass fast so that we can get the wheelchair today. This is a big happiness to my family”. From the bottom of my heart, I highly appreciate her deep love to her husband.

STORY OF LE VAN HIEN

An old woman holding a two meter stick was pushing a wheelchair where a man is sitting on. I guessed it is a stuff to keep the door safe from the thief to some houses in the countryside at first sight, but I was wrong, it was a stick helping the man to move.The 62 year old man was trying to roll the tyre of the wheelchair by his right hand so that it can move faster. I could see a strong will presenting in him to overcome current difficulties in moving. When being asked about his feeling of getting a wheelchair, he tried to move his lips say something to me but he couldn’t because of cardiovascular accident two years ago. There was only happy tear-drop rolling on wrinkled check. His wife said in emotion “I am so happy to have this wheelchair because it will help me a lot with taking care of my husband. He has been in paralysed situation of half body for 2 years. I am very old now to be able to carry him on hand. When I want to move him to a little bit far from the bed, I must have someone to help me with carrying him as usual. Now with this wheelchair, I can take him out without anybody’s help ” “I can not express my mood right now. I have waited for this free wheelchair for 2 years because of poverty”. I want to say the word “thank you” many times to show my gratitude to the donors of GIBTKs.

STORY OF NGUYEN THI DOAN

Her name is NGUYEN THI DOAN, a 55 years old woman who has contracted cerebral trouble since 2004. She has paralyzed on the left side and she cannot talk. She came to the ceremony with her husband who answered almost my questions about her. Ms Doan just could accept with a nod and sometimes she was near to tears when her husband talked about her health.
She lives in 8th group, Ngo May ward, Quy Nhon city, Binh Dinh province with her husband and two son. She was also taken to the orthopedic center to give electric shock treatment and do practices but she cannot be done regularly because her family is in a very difficult circumstance.
In the past time, she was a seamstress. But now she cannot do anything. Her husband earns living by driving a pedicab. He is a husband and a wife at the same time in their family.
Her husband said that he and his wife felt honor of receiving this nice wheelchair. He also said that from now he will keep his mind on his work more.

STORY OF LE THI NGOC AN

Looking at the little girl sitting on the wheelchair, I think that she is still young but after the talk with her mother, it makes me surprise. She is 18 years old and her name is LE THI NGOC AN. An lives in 237/19/4 Hoang Van Thu, Quy Nhon city, Binh Dinh province with her family. An is the second- born child, she has one older sister and one younger brother. She has contracted cerebral palsy from a very tender age. Sometimes she has felt into an epileptic fit. Her mother said that her family had wanted to have the wheelchair like that for a long time. However, An’s parents are both hired-laborers and they have to work hard from morning to night, An’s grandmother is the only person in her family taking care of her but she is so old that she cannot carry An in her arms.
They are very happy when receiving this wheelchair. From now they can let her sit on the wheelchair and push her go around.

Specific Stories.......

This is the first of a series of specific stories from our trip to Cambodia and Vietnam. It is presented as interpreted by Tam, who is with our Vietnamese distribution partner, Giving it Back to Kids. I think you will find this first story quite touching - DOAN THI NHAT OANH

STORY OF DOAN THI NHAT OANH

"I want to go to school. I feel so sad because I can not stand up or walk like other normal children. Looking at them going out, I cry a lot and wish I could go out to play with my friends."
These words are from a girl named Doan Thi Nhat Oanh. She is 14 years old. She was born in a poor family with 5 members. Her parents are poor farmers. They live in Group 7, Huu Thanh Hamlet, Trung Phuoc Commune, Tuy Phuoc District, Binh Dinh Province.
"When my mum was pregnant with me, she had a traffic accident and it affected my development in the womb. I have been in a paralytic situation since I was born"
Doan has been paralytic for 14 years so she just stays at home. Despite of her less-fortunate fate, she has never ever given up a dream of finishing her study. She has wished to have a wheelchair to go to school everyday and go out with her friends.
"It will be easier for me to go out with this wheelchair. I can by myself roll without anyone. Before I get the wheelchair I must crawl to anywhere I want to go. It makes my hands and knees painful; and my clothes dirty. But now, without crawling, I can go out. I feel happy so much. I don’t know what I should say right now. I want to thank the donors and FWM for the wheelchair. I hope that you will pay more attention to those who have the same situation as me."
She told me a lot and I could feel the happiness on her face and her smile.
Tam

Final Thoughts...Tommy and Natalie

After 17 days the trip comes to a close, but my eyes will remain open to the beauty, love and devotion of the Cambodian and Vietnamese people. I am in awe of these people who's lives are a struggle everyday just to get by and live... Yet you won't hear any complaints, they just take it in stride and go on living whether disabled, poor, old, sick or all.

Cambodia and Vietnam are beautiful countries in all aspects... from the people and the land. I never thought of these countries as places I would want to come visit for a vacation. Both countries have been riddled in wars and constant battles, but they don't dwell on it.... They move forward. Vietnam has a beautiful countryside and actually the beaches are phenomenal as well. I recommend for all to come visit these destinations and appreciate the beauty as my family and I did. - Tommy

Wow! Its hard to believe that our great adventure is coming to an end. This has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I have seen so many beautiful places and met such extraordinary individuals. I had the opportunity to visit places and see things that some can only dream about.I was able to experience both the Cambodian and Vietnamese culture in EVERY sense. This entire trip really was a reality check. Looking back on all that I saw and all the people that I talked to really makes me appreciate my life. It was truly amazing and heartwarming to attend all the wheelchair distributions. Every single person that received a wheelchair was so appreciative. The smallest things can put a smile on their faces, such as human touch. That was truly the most remarkable thing. Looking at all these people that are disabled or have loved ones that are, and are still so "high on life". This is something that we all need to think about everyday especially when we get caught up with all of our daily activities/routines back at home. Its so easy to forget and take things for granted. I am going to remember all that we saw, all the stories heard, and all the lives that we touched; but more importantly all the people and smiles that have forever touched and changed my life. -Natalie

Day 14..Ho Chi Minh City

Laura is on the mend and resting up for the return flight. We all spent the day walking the city and exploring the various marketplaces. After spending much of our city time on this trip in very heavy traffic, HCM City is a relief. The roads are wider and less jammed with motor bikes and vehicles. HCM City is much more cosmopolitan in feel than Hanoi and you can see the benefits of the region's economic growth. Large modern office towers are under construction throughout the city and western style condominium projects are replacing older structures.
Our hotel is situated on the Saigon River and the views from our 17th floor room are striking. I would recommend the Renaissance Riverside Hotel to anyone coming to HCM City. Make sure that you get a club level floor with a river view.
The trip has been a great learning experience for the whole family. Although Vietnam was in the news often during the war years, it is amazing how little we knew about the Country. I had no idea that the beaches in Vietnam are some of the most beautiful in the world. There are any number of great resorts along the coastline. The people are fantastic and very friendly and anxious to be of assistance. The people within the Districts care about the poor and disabled and are doing the best they can to provide assistance.
I am also very proud of my family ( Laura and Natalie are now considered official members). Throughout the trip they have carried themselves with dignity and respect. They have endured some very aggressive scheduling and uncomfortably long road trips and did so with nary a complaint. We all got along extremely well given that we were in tight quarters most of the time. They were also real troopers as we dined with our local hosts in some very rustic and authentic restaurants. Our hosts were always impressed that we ate everything that was presented to us and genuinely enjoyed the experience.
At the distributions, they were surprised to see that the kids really wanted to work..not merely observe. Whether pumping up a flat tire, fixing a wheel not fully tightened down,lifting wheel chair bound recipients down stairs, passing out reading glasses, giving out candy to the kids and elderly or providing a warm pat on the back, the whole family was engaged. I truly believe we gained the respect of the Vietnamese people we worked with; and, I believe achieving that respect to be an important accomplishment.
Now we must pack our bags for the return flight. I've asked each of the family members to write there thoughts about the trip as a final conclusion tho this Blog. I must say that modern communication technology is fantastic.
Signing off for now...one more leg of this fantastic journey to navigate!!!

Day 13- Can Tho 1,100 Wheel Chairs strong

Day 13...1,100 Wheel Chairs Strong in Can Tho.
I got up early and climbed to the top of the hotel to catch the sun come up over the Mekong. I think I got some pretty good video of the river and the assorted fishing boats and junks already hard at it. You get a bit mesmerized watching it all.
A check on Laura yielded no improvement. She is still running a fever. We arrange for her to stay in the room until we are finished with the distribution. We also hired a private car to take her back to HCM rather than endure a crowded ride on the van. Erin and our Vietnamese host Angela will ride with her and drive straight to the International Hospital in HCM City l to get her a proper check up. A quick health inventory and everyone else seems to be OK.
Our final distribution is huge. There are over 250 people at this one and the remaining 850 wheelchairs have already been spoken for. It was a quite a scene at the distribution site. Once again the Red Cross was there to help manage the logistics and direct traffic.
With Angela as my interpreter, I worked my way through the crowd finding out as much as I could about the recipients.
One man told me he had left his village at 3 AM to make the journey into town. He can't walk but has a little bicycle repair shop. He said that with the wheelchair he could now move around to get parts and even do house repair calls. He was thrilled. Another women showed me her crippled feet and said that she has had to crawl through the dirt and mud for 30 years. She farms a small plot of land and now she can finally get up off the ground. Another young man is wearing his school outfit and is also crippled from the waist down. He startled me when I came up to me and said " hello' in perfect English. he wanted to show me his English skills. He told me that he had struggled to find transportation to get through high school but got his diploma. he has now been admitted to university. He will study computer science. He said the wheel chair relieves his parents of having to carry him around. He is a bright young man and he will be successful.
The local district heads and the head of the charitable organization that supports the handicapped in the region all gave nice talks and thanked us and the Free Wheel Chair Mission for sending the wheelchairs to the Can Tho district. They prayed that we could send more. Getting more than 250 of the disabled into their wheel chairs, registered and then loaded up was quite a scene. Before long, however, we were waving good bye to the final person.
I must say that the distribution process has truly lived up to our expectations. We have driven collectively now about 2,000 KM in and around Cambodia and Vietnam. We have met so many great and courageous people. We have given out over 650 wheel chairs directly and seen another 1,000 ready to be taken further out into the regions for distribution.
A very satisfying and rewarding trip so far.
Now we are heading back to HCM to check on Laura. She is already at the hospital and under going an exam. Our work is not yet done for the day.
After another 6 hour trip, we arrive safely back in HCM City and check into our hotel.The report on Laura is favorable. She had contracted a virus but antibiotics should take care of it in a day or two. Erin and Laura finally get to the hotel and checked in. We all breath a sigh of relief. Angela has been a great help throughout this ordeal.
Our hotel is located right on the Saigon River and it is a great spot to finish up our journey.
Day 13 is in the books and we are all safe and secure.

Day 12-- Laura's Longest Day

Day 12..Laura's Longest Journey
(A note to Laura's parents..she is fine now and will take it easy the last two days of the trip)
We all relaxed at the Sandy Beach resort in Da Nang before heading to the airport. We needed a little rest and a good morning run on the beach was good for everyone..
We have had no problems getting through the airports in Vietnam. Da Nang was no exception. The flight to Ho Chi Minh City was on a brand new 767 . Anna, Angela and Esther from Giving it Back to Kids were waiting for us at the airport.
We have changed our plans on the fly. The distribution in Can Tho is about 160 KM from HCM and will start at 8 AM. So we headed straight from the airport to Can Tho. We picked up Samuel, a Pasteur with the Assembly of God Church. He will be helping with the distribution. Samuel told us that only in the past five years have they been allowed to openly minister to their religion in Vietnam. Before that he worked strictly underground to avoid being arrested. We also had four young girls from his congregation along with us to take down stories of the wheel chair recipients.
It would turn out to be a very long drive. There were 16 of us in the van and it was somewhat tight quarters. As soon as we got off the plane Laura started to feel dizzy and achy. Since all of us have had some form of distress at various times during the trip she thought it would pass. One hour into a 6 hour drive she kept getting worse. It was clear that she was running a fever but not much we could do about it but keep pushing forward to Can Tho where there would be hospital facilities if needed. The girls started singing Hymns and Vietnamese folk songs to pass the time. It was well intended but Laura clearly wanted some peace and quiet.
The road was much better than those we travelled in the North but the traffic was still heavy.
The countryside was similar yet different than in Central or Northern Vietnam. The landscape is much more jungle like and there are many rivers that we had to cross. The water in the rivers was moving at a pretty good clip which is different than I expected. I later found out that this was mostly influenced by the tide since we are very close to the ocean. This is much more a fishing and fruit growing area of the country although there is still some rice growing being done. Everywhere you look there are trees laden with fruit. The mango ere is fantastic.
We drove for hour upon hour and poor Laura was in misery. Every KM traveled seems like any eon to her. To cap it off, you must take a ferry across the Mekong to get to Can Tho. The wait for the ferry was about 30 minutes. This wait was only surpassed by the 1 1/2 hour wait to get back the next day. They had built a bridge across the river two years ago but we were told it had collapsed killing 100 people. Perhaps the ferry wasn't such a bad option.
Can Tho is a busy city with lots of river oriented commerce. We checked into what was once a nice hotel right on the river. It is a little long in the tooth now but clean. We got Laura into her room and Erin stayed with her to help her in any way she could. We pooled all our various medicines in hopes that one of them might do some good. We hoped that a cool bath and a good nights sleep might knock down the fever.
We relaxed a little bit on the hotel rooftop patio and observed the hustle and bustle along the river. The Mekong is much larger here than in Phnom Penh.
We all went to bed praying that Laura would improve by morning.
Day 12 was a very long day for Laura.

Day 11.. Flying is for Wimps

Day 11.....Flying is for Wimps
Robert Kalachian of Giving It Back to Kids says that most who come to distribute wheel chairs complain about the length of travel involved. We, on the other hand relish the opportunity to observe the culture and people of the country from a closer perspective. Sometimes that means about a micro millimeter of separation between our vehicle and a bus jammed to the gunnel's careening down the road with horn blaring.In essence, you must stay awake because any momentary drop of your guard calls for a startlingly loud wake up call courtesy of some of the loudest horns I have ever heard.
I got up early to explore the beach and grounds of the Wellness resort. The spa is about 100 yards up through the jungle reached via a winding path. Each of the massage huts are remotely set into the jungle for privacy. The platforms are open to the ocean. Each has a massage table and a bamboo soaking tub at the foot of the table. The steam bath is built into the rocks and looks like a little cave. They also have another form of steam bath where you are covered with hot sand. I wanted the four-handed Vietnamese massage in the worst way but time was short.
I then went down to the shore and watched the fishermen bring their catch in and ready it to take to the market place. At night we watched the lobster hunters exploring the ocean floor for lobsters. They go under water with a long breathing hose and a strong light. I watched them for at least an hour and never saw them come to the surface.
I could have stayed for a month but we needed to hit the road at 8 to get to another distribution in the Tuy Phuoc District of the Binh Dinh Provence. This district was very remote and we traveled down a narrow road to the distribution site.
This was a distribution of about 75 chairs. The area is pretty rural so we were clearly getting these chairs to the very poor. The District head said that Tuy Phuoc was the scene of a lot of fighting during the war and there were many people left disabled from the fighting.
We were greeted very warmly by the attendees. After brief remarks we walked down to talk to the recipients. We are getting stories compiled on many of the people receiving wheel chairs. I can't wait to connect the stories to the pictures and video that we have taken.
One young lady was very crippled. Her arms and legs were very very thin and deformed. Although her body had failed her...her mind was bright and alert and she sat as straight and erect as she could while we talked to her. She simply exuded dignity. She said that she had been attending school but her family could no longer afford for her to go. Another young man had been attending college and was the pride of the family. However he contracted polio and now is unable to manage for himself. The wheelchair will now ease the burden for the family that must care for him entirely.
We spent quite a bit of time with the recipients. I was pleased that we didn't have to rush away. We had stopped at a small shop on the way and bought a fresh batch of suckers and candy to give to the kids. We found out that the elders really liked the suckers. Most of them were without teeth. We would unwrap them and hand them out. They would really work those suckers over. Most were placed on the back of scooters and whisked away sucking away on those suckers with a passion. I got some great pictures and video of this distribution.
After the distribution, we traveled even further into the country for lunch. We went to a very,very small village along the coast. This would be a real test of our gastro-intestinal fortitude. The restaurant was spartan to say the least. Fresh shrimp and squid recently plucked from the sea and assorted sea based soups. A bottle of vodka was produced for the obligatory toasts. Fortunately, it was early in the day and our hosts went easy on us since we had a very long drive ahead of us.
The drive back was a nail biter. We passed a head on collision between a van and a bus. The bus won and I'm sure there were many injuries. I'm surprised that we didn't see more accidents.
The Vietnamese seem to be doing a good job with education. We passed any number of schools that were filled with children dressed in dark blue trousers or skirt, a white shirt and red kerchief. As school let out it seemed like thousands of the kids piled out of the school. They all jumped on old fashioned single gear bicycles and hit the road peddling feverishly onto the road. Dodging these kids was a chore since most of the bicycles were way to large for their riders. We had one close call when one small kid lost his balance and nearly fell into our path. A pure adrenalin rush for us.
The bathroom stops were a challenge for the girls but hey didn't complain. We of course were lucky as we just walked a few yards into the woods.
Once back to the hotel we let out a holler of relief and lauded our driver profusely. Needless to say we toggled it down for the evening and I was finally able to break through the hotel Internet code with the help of Mario. When I finally checked my watch it was 1 AM and I was toast.
Day 11 was in the books!!!!

Life Wellness... A zenlike experience

The Smiles say It All

The gift of mobility is truly appreciated by the disabled and the very patient and strong family members that are the care givers for these great people.

The young man below was going to college and was expected to be the family leader. Unfortunately, he contracted polio and now must be cared for by the family. Heart wrentching to be sure.





This young lady is remarkable. Although her body is small and frail, her mind and soul are very strong. She is truly beautiful. She told us that she enjoyed going to school and learning with the other kids but had to stop going because her family is too poor. She smiled at us and thanked us for our gift of mobility. We all shed more than a few tears for this couragious young lady.

Images Of Vietnam