𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘰. 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘻𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺. 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦? 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯? 𝘖𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴?
Meet Wilma, 46, Mark Alvin, 39, and their daughter Alwina, 5—the family that caught our Wheelchair Distribution team’s attention in Lingayen, Pangasinan.
Wilma is one of the PWD recipients of OB’s 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. “I know at least how to write my own name,” 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 embryo’s skull fuses too soon giving the eyes no time to set. Two of Mark Alvin’s 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.
“One 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,” Wilma continues.
Because of this condition, Alwina needs regular check ups. According to Wilma, “The checkups are free, but if the pedia gives her a prescription, we pay Php 350-500 (USD 7-10).”
“It’s 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,” 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, “I get home from God. When things are too difficult, I pray to God,”
Operation Blessing coming to their town in Lingayen, Pangasinan is God’s answer to her prayers. With our free Wheelchair Distribution project, Wilma can now replace her 10-year-old rusty wheelchair. She is immensely thankful!
“Thank 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.”
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 God’s miracle transforming hand upon their lives. We hope and pray that they will continue to receive God’s 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.