Freeing My People From Their Limitations

by Luis Figueroa

Imagine being a middle-aged handicapped man with a family to support in one of the poorest countries in the world, your job choices limited by polio that left you with a deformed foot and leg. Luis Figueroa is such a man, and his life, like so many others, has been changed for the better by the Wisconsin/Nicaragua Wheelchair Project. Luis was key to the inception of the project, and he remains central to its success. He has been the director of the wheelchair workshop in Nicaragua for the last six years, responsible for overseeing all aspects of its operation and training young workers in wheelchair fitting and repair. He is a skilled, inventive and resourceful wheelchair technician who can adapt a wheelchair to fi t any situation. I interviewed Luis about his work. Here is some of what he has to say about how the wheelchair workshop has changed his life.

In Luis’s words:

The work we are doing is very humanitarian, very humane. You have to see the needs of a person; you have to see the sadness of many families who have a handicapped member, a person with limitations. What we want to do is help people—with a wheelchair, cane, a walker—so they can mobilize themselves and not be so dependent on people doing things for them. The team that works here is a team of poor young people, all committed to helping others. They want to learn, and they know that this work is not just for themselves, but for others.
What we want to do is help people—with a wheelchair, cane, a walker—so they can mobilize themselves and not be so dependent on people doing things for them.

What we want to do is help people—with a wheelchair, cane, a walker—so they can mobilize themselves and not be so dependent on people doing things for them.

We try to resolve some small part of the problem their handicap brings them. There is much poverty in Nicaragua, and this limits people in many ways. People don’t have any money to buy a wheelchair— it is very expensive, and the people who need them are usually very poor . Many live in the country. Sometimes to try to resolve a bit of the problem they have to travel very far. They don’t have access to therapy, to help.

The cheapest wheelchair that is manufactured here in Managua costs 355 dollars. [Note: Average annual income in Nicaragua is about $790.] Hardly anyone has that money. Here we adapt and condition a wheelchair for whatever handicaps the person has. What do we learn doing this work? We learn that it is not just about giving a wheelchair, but about being sensitive to the person and their family. We try to convey that a handicapped person has value. They are not worthless—they need a chance to learn, to work, to overcome whatever obstacles life presents them with.

I want to help in a way that makes a person feel important, to change their way of thinking, so they know they can do lots of things, so they have the will and the heart to do things. We have to sensitize people to the issues of handicapped people. I feel committed to helping people with problems worse than me and this work is very important. The team I work with are people who have limitations, and we work collectively to help others. It is not just a problem of wheelchairs, it is a problem of thinking - we need to have more solidarity, more patience, and more sensitivity to the handicapped.

Here we adapt and condition a wheelchair for whatever handicaps the person has.

Here we adapt and condition a wheelchair for whatever handicaps the person has.

The percentage of handicapped people in Nicaragua is 12 percent according the government, but in reality it is more like 27 percent. The war killed so many and injured so many others with mines and guns. There are so many accidents; car and bus, work accidents, accidents in the houses, with fi res, from horses, bikes. There is malnutrition of mothers and children. The problem is that there are not places to treat people, to rehabilitate people, to figure out what is wrong. The doctors deal only with general problems. There is not a place to get the proper diagnosis unless you are in Managua. There is no prevention.

This work has made me stronger. It is hard but satisfying. For me, as a Nicaraguan, I feel an obligation to do this work. People from outside like Sharing Resources Worldwide-- you do so much to help us. We also need to take responsibility. That a child, an elderly person, can be comfortable in a wheelchair, can go the clinic, go to school, and go to the park. That a child does not need to be held by the mother all the time, but has an opportunity to learn and grow. This has a great value that goes beyond money--it has a value in humanity, in solidarity. It is beyond price.