Mobility is just the beginning in Ghana

Elia Powers

Forget camping. One Corona del Mar father-daughter pair is taking

family bonding to a new extreme.

Bill Rice and his 26-year-old daughter, Kathryn Rice, are leaving

Friday on a 10-day trip to Ghana, where they will help assemble and

deliver 550 wheelchairs to citizens in remote villages.

They are participating in the charity project through the Free

Wheelchair Mission, a 4-year-old Tustin-based Christian organization

that delivers the products to third-world countries.

Rice, 57, a commercial real estate agent, visited Ghana last March

to make distribution contacts and to hand out more than 200

wheelchairs.

He traveled to a village where he said 500 residents were waiting

in the heat for the chance to get a wheelchair.

Rice and other volunteers selected the most needy candidates,

including a woman who was lying on the ground, unable to move. She

had been hit by a car years ago and is a quadriplegic.

Family members begged for her to receive a wheelchair. Without

hesitation, Rice handed one over. He said the woman’s smile made the

trip worthwhile.

“It was such a rewarding experience that I wanted to expose my

daughters to it while they are younger,” he said.

After seeing pictures from her father’s trip and hearing stories

from speakers at Mariners Church in Irvine, Kathryn Rice agreed to

join her father on his next journey.

“I saw the expressions on people’s faces once they received the

wheelchairs,” said Rice, a marriage and family therapist intern.

“That made me excited to go.”

Bill Rice said up to 10% of infants born in Ghana are missing a

limb. He said most in the disabled population are entirely dependant

on their families.

“If you are disabled, no one wants anything to do with you,” he

said. “When you give the gift of mobility, they appreciate it

immediately.”

The Rices plan to join volunteers from other organizations and

visit distribution partners. Bill Rice said one of the kings of Ghana

has invited the group to meet with him in the eastern region of the

country.

The volunteers will take an eight-hour drive and then a short boat

ride across the world’s largest man-made lake, Lake Volta, to

distribute most of the wheelchairs.

Kathryn Rice said she looks forward to visiting the village of

Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, a native of Ghana whose story was captured in

a documentary released at last week’s Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Yeboah was born with a mangled leg and has spent the past few

years attempting to change Ghanaian citizens’ perceptions of the

country’s disabled population.

After receiving a wheelchair, he recently wheeled it nearly 400

miles around the country.

Bill Rice said he is motivated by Yeboah’s story and is dedicated

to volunteering overseas.

“I like the combination of the adventure and helping people

organize projects,” he said.

Using contacts in Orange County, Bill Rice is attempting to raise

money to buy new wheelchairs. He said a $41.17 contribution will buy

one product. The Free Wheelchair Mission has a goal of delivering

2,750 wheelchairs to devastated areas of India and Sri Lanka by

April.

For more information, visit https://www.freewheelchairmission.org.