Thondwe, Malawi… As we returned from a fact finding trip to Ntonda Primary School, we met a 12 year-old boy waving from a wheelchair we recognized as having been distributed through the Malawi Project, Namikango Mission, the Free Wheelchair Mission, and many of you. Meet Earnest Makadyera – Earnest now attends school regularly and wants to become a teacher. Since he was paralyzed from birth, spent most of his life crawling through the dust with a slim chance of reaching his goal. His wheelchair gives him a chance.
Wheelchairs, especially rugged and affordable wheelchairs, are difficult to come by in Malawi. First of all, few companies build them. Secondly, the cost is too high for the average Malawian – each wheelchair costs at least 40,000.00 Malawi Kwacha, or about $245. Most families can’t afford this since about 80% of the country’s population lives on less than a dollar a day.
Stories like Earnest’s give us the energy to work a little harder – to pray wholly – to dream a little bigger.
Maybe one day a little boy, previously denied his dream, will help change his nation too.
Roll on, Earnest, we’ll be watching.