๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ฐ. ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐บ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ข ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐บ. ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐บ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ? ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ? ๐๐ณ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅโ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ช๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด?
Meet Wilma, 46, Mark Alvin, 39, and their daughter Alwina, 5โthe family that caught our Wheelchair Distribution teamโs attention in Lingayen, Pangasinan.
Wilma is one of the PWD recipients of OBโs free wheelchairs. She has polio. Her crippled little legs left her immobile and have stolen her countless opportunities in life including pursuing studies and a career. In school, she reached only the second grade. Afterwards, her family just taught her how to read and write at home. โI know at least how to write my own name,โ she said.
Wilma was accompanied by her husband, Mark Alvin, of small built. He stood out from the crowd because his eyeballs were protruding excessively. Wilma explained that it is called Crouzon syndrome, a birth defect where an embryoโs skull fuses too soon giving the eyes no time to set. Two of Mark Alvinโs siblings also have the same condition, but the youngest one is totally blind.
Unfortunately, their daughter Alwina, who is now five years old, got the Crouzon syndrome too. Aside from that, she was born with imperforate anus. The stool has no hole to be released, so it gets out through her navel and using a colostomy bag.
โOne colostomy bag costs Php 250 (USD 5) from the online shop. It should be changed every two days. But sometimes, when her stool is liquid, we need to change it after a day,โ Wilma continues.
Because of this condition, Alwina needs regular check ups. According to Wilma, โThe checkups are free, but if the pedia gives her a prescription, we pay Php 350-500 (USD 7-10).โ
โItโs difficult to take care of my daughter especially when she is sick. The pain I feel is doubled because she is my daughter, and my daughter is in pain. It is the hardest thing for any parent,โ Wilma said.
Alwina also has developmental delay. At 5 years old, she is not able to verbally as clearly as other kids her age. But they are planning to enroll her to the day care next school year.
With all these, where do they get money for their expenses from? Wilma narrates that her husband used to be in construction work. But ever since they had a baby, Mark Alvin cannot be out of the house as often as before, because he needs to take care of their daughter. It is very difficult for immobile Wilma to take care of their daughter on her own.
They occasionally receive monetary support from their parents and siblings. But since they, too, have their own families to feed, the financial support is understandably limited.
Wilma has polio, Mark Alvin has Crouzon syndrome, which daughter Alwina also got, in addition to imperforate anus and developmental delay. Is the Jimenez family forgotten by heaven?
When asked where she gets hope from, Wilma said, โI get home from God. When things are too difficult, I pray to God,โ
Operation Blessing coming to their town in Lingayen, Pangasinan is Godโs answer to her prayers. With our free Wheelchair Distribution project, Wilma can now replace her 10-year-old rusty wheelchair. She is immensely thankful!
โThank you so much to Operation Blessing! This new wheelchair is a huge help for me. I can move around a lot easier. I can assist my daughter and do household chores, which I cannot do using my old wheelchair.โ
Because of our Wheelchair program, the Jimenez family and hundreds of other PWDs who received wheelchairs, canes, crutches, and hearing aids in Pangasinan know that they are not forgotten by God. And perhaps, this might just be the start of Godโs miracle transforming hand upon their lives. We hope and pray that they will continue to receive Godโs healing touch.
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You can be a MIRACLE for someone! If this story has touched you and would like to give to the work of Operation Blessing to help us help more people, go to www.operationblessing.ph/give-now. You can also reach out to us directly at 09399215543 or 09189067753 for more information. DSWD-SB-SP-00017-2023-Nationwide. Valid until March 31, 2024. ย