For most foundations, the purpose of a Newsletter is to “blow one’s own horn” in order to communicate maximum optimism via a collection of “success stories" aimed at fertilizing an enduring source of financial support. Yes, in short, our Foundation has, in fact, experienced an excellent year in terms of services provided and people to be thankful for, but our current Spring 2008 Newsletter requests your kind indulgence while we attempt to tackle a less celebratory focus.

Over the Foundation’s past 14 years, we haven’t really told you much about the
realities we confront on a daily basis regarding disability in Thailand. The picture is not always rosy. Our young client in the above photo suffers from both hydrocephalus and cerebral palsy. He is one of our 1350 clients who (without our involvement), has previously had zero access to physical and occupational therapy, zero access to assisted mobility, and little if any possibilities for accessible public education.

Yes, it is fair to say that many urban areas in Thailand do have a variety of limited (and often overcrowded) medical and rehab services, but Thailand is predominantly a non-urban, rural country where the rural poor and their disabled family members are overlooked (if not ignored). Access to medical and rehab facilities for rural and remote area families (especially for the disabled) remains entirely dependent upon economics and transportation (both of which are either in short supply or are non-existent). For most of our 1350 mobility clients (even with what we admit as minimal inadequate assistance) our Foundation literally remains the only hope these folks will ever have or can ever expect. By adding a very negative public disability stigma to this cauldron of heart wrenching hardship, our supporters can now hopefully begin to get a picture of the conditions we deal with on a daily basis. Just imagine, for example, what it would be like as a parent to have a child suffering from cerebral palsy, who at age 14-16 years old, has never once in its lifetime been seen by a doctor, much less a physical therapist. Limb distortions are often grotesque and beyond repair. And as we say, such realities are routine and common to our everyday work.

In short, the extent of unattended disability (neglect) that we see on a daily basis is today unknown in most developed nations. As far as we know there have been no studies made as to why so many rural Thai children suffer from various stages of cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, or whatever. All we know for sure is that every week we provide endless free services and it seems that the more people who hear about our help, the longer our waiting list seems to grow. We wish we could report a diminishing supply of applicants, but that’s not the case.

Our free services include rural and remote area home visits, physical therapy, self-help Thai language publications, all manner of mobility aids (wheelchairs, walkers, canes, crutches, rolling beds, gurneys, self-propelling tricycles, etc.) corrective surgery for a few lucky recipients, and mobility aid repair and/or replacement.

With help from “Free Wheelchair Mission”, we have recently been able to provide mobility to a long list of elderly stroke, heart attack, and diabetic amputee survivors.
Without this assistance, the majority of these elderly would have spent the rest of their lives lying on skimpy floor mattresses, confined indoors.

Our work is not abstract, and it is not “theory”. We deal with real people who cannot walk and with your help, we make it instantly possible for them to get up off the floor, escape their limitations, change their view, go outside, smell fresh air, talk to neighbors, attend school (for many children), or even experience something as basic and simple as eating a bowl of noodles in a neighborhood noodle shop surrounded by friends and neighbors.

Thai tourist brochures love to promote what is heralded as “UNSEEN THAILAND” referring of course to visiting unspoiled scenic areas off the “beaten” tourist routes. Unfortunately, our work involves another area of “UNSEEN THAILAND” and focuses on the thousands of rural and remote area disabled persons who remain unseen because they live without access to mobility. They are floor-bound, housebound, or bed ridden.

Can you help? Do we have a wish list? The answer to both questions is yes.
Our website at www.infothai.com/disabled provides all the logistical information you need to make a donation, including information for Americans requiring a 501-C-3 tax exempt receipt. Our mailing address is still 195/197 Moo Ban Tanawan, Moo 8, Tambol Sanphisua, Amphur Muang, Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand. Yes, we accept checks.

For those who can help, or need additional information, our wish list includes:

• Establishing Thailand’s first physical therapy clinic on wheels in order to bring a professional standard of physical and occupational therapy to the rural poor.
• Financing the fuel costs for operating such a mobile clinic.
• Financing the salary of a full time physical therapist ($,4700 USD).
• Adding individual and corporate wheelchair sponsors ($280 USD per chair).
• Establishing overseas sister relationships with Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs,and other civic and/or service groups (Please help if you can).
• Accessing serious and dedicated long term volunteer relationships with self-motivated and mature volunteers who have skills in therapy or metal fabrication (see www.volunteer.infothai.com)

Thanks to all for your patience in reading this Newsletter. Our staff of seven includes five disabled persons, one able-bodied driver, and one old codger. We can’t perform miracles, but we have already provided more than 800 free mobility aids, in addition to having surpassed (many times over) what our initial “nay-sayers” ever thought was feasible or possible. And so it goes…..one step at a time.

Warm regards from Sunan and Don

Sunan and Don Willcox, Coordinators
assist@loxinfo.co.th
Foundation To Encourage The Potential Of Disabled Persons
www.infothai.com/disabled and www.freedomwheelchairs.org