Thursday, June 20th-day of WC giveaway Lotus

Today is the wheelchair giveaway at Lotus FM. We have been working on this for so long that we are glad it is finally here. We spoke to the Eggetts to let them know how to get there. They are the humanitarian couple from Johannesburg who authorized the wheelchairs. I am excited to get these needy people their chairs finally and put faces to all the stories I've read. We got a couple of calls from the missionaries that we invited to the event (Elder Kyle invited 8 of the Elders to come and help). They wanted directions to get there as well. It's hard to believe that only after a couple of months in Durban, we are the ones giving directions...ha. I don't know how the Elders get around without a GPS or mapquest. They just spread the maps on the floor and try to find things. In South Africa, that is next to impossible, but somehow they do it. I think some help from above may be the only reason they can do it.

When we got there, Lisa was running around very stressed, but was excited to show us how they had decorated the room at the studio for the event. She told us that they would be doing live interviews during the ceremony and be taking our church leaders inside the studio for interviews after the event. We had Hillcrest Stake President Wilford, Durban Stake 1st Counselor, Magaqa and Elder and Sister Eggett who were all supposed to speak at the event. We didn't know about Eggetts wanting to speak until we had already asked the other speakers, so it seemed a bit much, but we had told everyone to keep it short, so we had high hopes they would do that. I took some photos and then passed out programs to people as they arrived, while Elder Kyle tried to instruct the missionaries. The missionaries were supposed to help the recipients from the parking lot into the room where the event was being held. A woman from the Rising Sun Newspaper was there (An Indian community publication) and the radio station was broadcasting the event live. They picked one of the DJs to be the emcee and he was perfect...humorous and caring...great combination.

Then, the recipients started to arrive. It was satisfying and heartbreaking at the same time. One young man had to be carried in and placed in a chair by two missionaries. Another lady took 20 minutes to walk across the room with her walker. Several of them had a leg or two missing. Some were in borrowed wheelchairs or chairs that were falling apart that they had for many years. The important thing was that it was very obvious that these people needed chairs. We knew that a few could not come, because they were in the hospital. Some sent relatives to pick up their chairs, but there were quite a few who came, even thought it was very difficult to do so.

The DJ started the program by welcoming the recipients and thanking the church for the wheelchairs and then he turned it over to the Eggetts who did a good job of explaining what the church humanitarian services is all about, what type of services they are providing in Africa and how they get the funds to do it. They talked about not only providing hundreds of wheelchairs, but providing clean water to communities who have to walk for an hour to get dirty water from a the closest water source, providing training to midwives about dealing with difficult deliveries, providing neo natal machines and training to hospitals to help save newborns, providing vision care to poor areas, and providing cataract surgery for free and providing many other programs and services to areas in need.

Then President Magaqa spoke to the recipients and thanked Jesus Christ for providing a way for us to help these people. I don't know how the Hindus felt about that, but he did a nice job talking about how the church is all about love and service. The talks were short. Then their station manager talked. He thanked the church as well by saying the full name, but then shortened it to The church of Latter Day Saints when he mentioned it several times after that. I heard the Eggetts commenting on it and wondering why he kept doing that, until someone leaned over and said, because the other name is too long. Stake president Wilford was then supposed to speak, but Lisa came over and said they bumped him from the program. My first thought was, "You bumped the Stake President from the program, when he got off work to come here!" She then said, we are going to use him for a live interview.

So then they proceeded to go right into the wheelchair distribution. I had to give the camera over to Elder Kyle to take the photos, because someone needed to write down the name of the recipient and serial number of the chair on a receipt for them to sign that they received the chair. It wasn't a bad job, as I got to visit with each participant, or their relatives or caregivers. I recognized names and remembered some of the stories I read, so it was fun to be able to do that.




The missionaries were AWESOME. They brought out the wheelchairs, helped the person into the chair and then wheeled them up front. They helped the guy for CE Mobility adjust the chairs and talked to the people in a loving, gently way. We couldn't help but be proud to associate with such wonderful young men.







President Wilford was also hands-on. He helped the missionaries and even lifted one man into his chair. I don't know him very well, but I was very impressed with his actions. Clive, our PA guy, was also in there helping. After they all got their chairs, photos were taken and some interviews by the radio station. Then all were invited to lunch, which was at the back of the room. It was funny to see a little box of Kentucky fried chicken for each person. When I told the missionaries they could have some, they smiled and practically ran to the back to get some. I heard that there were also other Indian finger foods, but I was too busy to get back there and get some before it was all gone. The event went so well that it reminded me of the primary programs at church. They always seem to have problems in rehearsals and you think it is going to be terrible and then the day of the program comes and everything falls into place and is wonderful. That's what happened here. It was a great event.

We went from there with the Eggetts and Clusters to Victorias Market, because Elder Eggett wanted to get the ties with the big5 game on them. He turned out to be quite the shopper. His wife could have cared less and we practically had to drag him out of each store...Ha. We (the ladies) took Sister Eggett into our favorite shop upstairs owned by Lalita, an Indian lady who we all know. The first thing she said when we walked in was, "I just heard you on the radio at the wheelchair giveaway and now here you are."  Sister Eggett ended up buying a skirt and blouse. The guys were in the shop next door, which is an upscale African shop. Elder Eggett bought ten ties, but was disappointed because they were out of red.

Umlazi sisters learning to sew.

We finally left there and then we took the Eggetts out to Umlazi to meet with Zanele who has requested some sewing machines for her group of ladies that meet three times a week to learn how to sew. There were about twenty ladies there and Zanele did a good job explaining her non profit and how desperately she wants to help the community.

The Eggetts with Zanele of Umlazi

The Eggetts were impressed with her and though they told her that they do not have the final say on the sewing machines, they were impressed enough to give a good report to humanitarian services. An interesting point they made to her was that they do not want it to be church-based. They want non members from the community to participate and no proselyting. In other words, they don't want anyone to think there are strings attached to the humanitarian aid they are given.

By now, it is 4:00 and I have not eaten all day. I am feeling a little weak.


We headed back to the Clusters place to meet back up with them and go to dinner. Luckily, Sister Cluster offered a glass on Mango juice and it helped perk me back up again. We killed about an hour talking and then headed to the restaurant. After a few wrong turns, we finally found the restaurant downtown overlooking the harbor. Elder Kyle and I had been there before with the Murdocks. It is one of 31 restaurants in the world that revolves 360 degrees. We had a great time and then the waiter took us up to the roof to look at the city...It was dark, but still beautiful. Elder Kyle was feeling a little afraid of the height...I never realized he was afraid of heights, but he said it made him very nervous.

It was a long day, but a really good one. TIA.