The Beds Fit Sideways | The Clear Path International Medical Supplies Donation Program

The heavy electrical bed frames from the donor in Issaquah had to go sideways on a wheeled furniture dolly to go through the door opening. It was a little extra trouble, but that was nothing new for this crew of volunteers, old hands at the movement of medical equipment and supplies for Clear Path or at least old hands at our whacky resourcefulness.

The space we�re using to store the 12 beds from Marianwood Nursing Home and many other items we�re storing for our next shipment is donated by Total Reclaim, Seattle-based recycling firm that lets us use a portion of their warehouse that used to be a large corner office.

It goes nicely with the old cargo van donated to us by a Bainbridge Island electrician and with the fact we never pay for shipping to get our items to the hospitals in the developing world. That usually gets taken care of by a great partner organization in Canada, Universal Aide Society and sometimes Rotary. We only really pay for large truck rentals and occasional day laborers to help out with a very large shipment or when I can�t find volunteers. The equipment and supplies themselves are all donated by hospitals, clinics and nursing homes in the region, even by individuals who can�t give their wheelchair, crutches or beds back to the insurance companies.


Before we moved to this warehouse, we had space at Kevin Sutherland�s location. He owns a business in commercial flooring and let us use a corner of his warehouse. Both locations have been near Boeing Field in Seattle. You can only imagine what we would have to pay for space in such a prime location close to the Port of Seattle.
Craig Lorch, who owns Total Reclaim, is a good guy. He read an article about our search for donated warehouse in the Seattle P-I and called us. At the warehouse, he also accommodates a nonprofit project collecting bicycles for Ghana. Every time I see those bikes, I think about �Emmanuel�s Gift,� a film documentary about a young disabled man who overcomes obstacles to becoming a bicycle racer, ends up winning all these sporting events and become an advocate for persons with disabilities in Ghana.
You have to consider that babies born with disabilities are routinely poisoned or left to die alone in western Africa; those who survive face a lifetime of begging on the streets and rejection as outcasts. That is a lot like the landmine survivors we support in Southeast Asia. Not that they are poisoned or left to die. The Asian countries where we work are far too family-oriented for that. But those around the family often ostracize the disabled.
Emmanuel did not want this to happen to him. Born with a malformed right leg, he shined shoes for $2 a day and refused to accept his country's superstitious shunning of the disabled. On a bicycle supplied by the California-based Challenged Athletes Foundation, Emmanuel rode almost 380 miles across Ghana and discovered his calling in life: to improve the lives of the two million disabled Ghanaians.
I watched the movie with Karen, my wife, and Niko, my eight-year-old son who is quite athletic. He loved it and still talks about it. Among all the sensory-overloading kids movies out there, this was a real gem of a film, deeply moving and inspiring.
Back at the warehouse, we were adding the beds to many other items we�re getting ready for a shipment to a hospital in San Miguel, El Salvador. The shipping is sponsored by Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island and Brent Olson, a member of the club�s World Service Committee, was on hand to, well, lend a hand. We sent this hospital a container of equipment already. But they still need more.
The community of San Miguel was one of those hit by hurricane Mitch some years ago and received a large grant from donors in Spain to build a hospital. But there wasn�t enough money to equip or supply it. In the second container we�re sending, we�ll include beds, all the machinery for a full x-ray room, casting supplies, surgical items and many other goods.
We�re collecting other items at the warehouse for the Alert Hospital in Ethiopia, which is supported by the Clinton Foundation to build a new pediatric wing. The hospital treats HIV+ patients and provide medical care for thousands of patients. For them we pediatric gurneys, an infant radiant warmer, electronic fetal heart rate monitors, breast pumps and sleeper chairs for parents and babies together. We will also be on the lookout for surgical supplies to include. Other upcoming shipping destinations include Laos, Cambodia and the Congo.
There is an ongoing stream of goods flowing through our program. Since 2001, we�ve sent 62 containers with $4 million worth of medical equipment and supplies to hospitals in 23 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Before we moved to Craig�s warehouse, we completed a series of five container shipments from a large donations we got from Group Health. That will be the subject for my next blog.