Links to Wheels of Hope newsletters (in pdf format)*

Hope in Motion - 2009 year-end report featuring Honduras, Thailand and Boy Scouts

Hope in Motion - Summer 2009 newsletter featuring Thailand

Hope in Motion - 2008 annual report featuring Honduras

Hope in Motion - Summer 2008 newsletter featuring Chile

Hope in Motion - 2007 annual report featuring Bolivia

Great News from Thailand: Luc's mobility is improving! A Letter from our Thailand Director, Luc, who was in the Bangkok hospital with stroke-like symptoms during Patrick's spring 2009 visit. He was taken to his home country, Belgium, to rehabilitate and is now back in Thailand. Luc is still working on regaining full use of his arm— very important for a paraplegic! Please keep him, his wife Marjike, and the Thailand wheelchair program in your prayers.

November 2009

Here everything is going now much and much better. My health situation is going better and better... But still it is not yet as before... but I do surely not complain... I realize very well that He has still some plans with me... I am so thankful to Him that the Lord still alows me to be here and to be able to help people with disability.

About the work, it is really very busy ... the last three months we have been doing distributions (fittings) almost every day at our warehouse here at RICD. I would like to thank you again for the very very nice wheelchairs and other equipment we again received from Wheels of Hope this year. Again so many people could benefit from these ! Thank so much !

I am also very proud to announce that we now also do complete maintenance and repairs of the equipment. We now even see
that people who did not receive their wheelchair from our project still ask us to repair. We of course do also these repairs. For this we also try to make our workshop more efficient with some good working tools.

Now we can also say that we have some local support groups all over Thailand working with us e.g. in the region of Nakhon Si Thamarat (deep south), Nan province, Mae Hong Son province, Prachuab Khiri Khan province. These groups are doing the maintenance of the wheelchairs and other equipment but also doing the small repairs. This sytem is very helpful for the local people.

For December 2009 we also scheduled to have two big distributions... one at Ratchaburi (150 km south of Bangkok) and one at RICD in Chiang Mai. This year we also have more and more CBR home visits. In 2008 we still had 31 CBR visits ... This year from January to November, we had already 61 CBR home visits. This is quite a necessity to do as many people with disability are not able to come by physical limitations to a distribution venue somewhere in Thailand or to RICD in Chiang Mai.

So this is it a little bit for the moment. Again, Patrick, thanks so much for your beautiful support ! This means so much to sooo many people in Thailand !

May 2009

First of all I would like to thank you for the very nice article I just received from you about "Thailand update ongoing outreach - from poorest to those in high places". I already made a print out and I will give this article this morning to Dr. Samai.

I also would like to thank you so much for the container shipment we received. Already lots of people with disability have received equipment from this container. We are now in the process of doing a distribution in Ratchaburi, about 1,000 km south of Chiang Mai. There will be about 50 wheelchairs going to that distribution. I will keep you informed on this.

Now about myself... I would like apologize that I could not join you in March during your visit here in Chiang Mai (editor's note: he was only in the hospital!) but ... I am already back in Chiang Mai... I still have to be very careful but I am already working fulltime in the wheelchair project again. I am so happy that He gives me the chance to be able to help people again!!!! I was already working in a small distribution in Mae Hong Son... My arm is getting better every day... but I still have some limitations. I do not complain at all about this as I am so thankfull to Him. After all these problems I surely realize that He still has plans with me... that is also why I did not worry as I put my faith completely in His hands and he will decide what will happen with me and where he wants me to go...

Patrick, I would like to thank you again for all your help, support and hard work to help our Thai disabled friends!

Blessings,
Luc Masschelein
Director Wheels of Hope -Thailand
Project Manager - RICD Wheelchair Project, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Links to other news

"Helping the needy brings blessings" - Akron Beacon Journal interview, July 2003

Christmas :: A Millennial's story

*Need help opening the newsletters?
Download Adobe Reader for free:

 

Mission    |    History    |    News    |    Volunteer    |    Donate    |    Contact Us

Copyright 2010