September 5, 2022

 Do you remember our shepherd in the old wheelchair? We took this picture somewhere along the very long road from Duhok, long before we knew about our LDSC Wheelchair Program. We were determined to find him to get him an all-terrain wheelchair to make it easier for him to tend the sheep with his brothers. BUT we had no idea which village he was in. So we have been comparing pictures to scenery and stopping in villages.  And WE FOUND HIM!

Here is our shepherd with his brothers.  This was one of our original photos of him.  But what was the clue that helped us find him?

Back to this original photo - see the piece of concrete in the distance behind him?  It has Kurdish writing on it. In our search we stopped at every possible exit/village along the highway searching for that piece of concrete with the Kurdish writing.

And here he is in his old chair! We were so excited to find him.

And here he is in his brand new all-terrain wheelchair as a gift from LDSC!  Knowing he now had his new chair has been one of the emotional highlights of our mission.

Here is our friend, Rana, who also had an old chair that was too small for her. We had her father bring her to our distribution point to get a new, comfortable wheelchair.

Rana is a paraplegic and this more comfortable chair will allow her to go out of the house more with her son.

Here is one of the program’s organized distributions. It is wonderful to see these individuals finally have a comfortable chair.

This gentleman is also receiving an all-terrain wheelchair.  Many of these folks live in small villages with unpaved, uneven roads.

This child has just received his chair and is studying the safety manual.

Here is a short video from one of our distributions.

Finally, a few photos from the little Olympics that was held for children from the refugee camps. We did not sponsor this event, but we were invited to attend since LDSC helps the refugees in so many other ways.

Here all the teams are lining up for the official entrance parade.

A short video of the Entrance Parade with all the teams.

Another video focusing more on the different camp teams.

You’ll notice in the videos, and in this still shot that several of the girls wear black tights under their shorts. Many of the Muslim girls cannot expose their legs... and it was a very, very hot day.

This final photo is Barbara volunteering to read English children’s books to Kurdish children in Kindergarten. They are doing quite well and always seem excited to have a visiting ‘teacher’ ☺️.