Three physical therapy graduate students traveled to Guatemala to distribute wheelchairs this past summer.

From Aug. 2 to 9, Becky Wagner, Hannah Wolff and Theresa Yanik stayed at various cities in Guatemala.

The project, sponsored by Hope Haven Ministries and completed through the School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders and the College of Health and Human Sciences, distributed wheelchairs to Bethel Ministries.

The students visited orphanages, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and monasteries to conduct research on the help being done.

Wolff said lifestyles in Guatemala are in stark contrast with those in America, stating that the living conditions for most families are poor and that families live with up to six people in a home. Most in the country live in poverty, Wolff said.

Wagner, who worked with children in an orphanage that received a wheelchair, said it was a rewarding experience.

“For me, it was the joy in the kids’ faces. They just lit up,” Wagner said.

The students plan to make a presentation based on their experience at the national conference for Children’s Medical Ministries next April in Washington, D.C.

“This experience has changed me,” Wolff said. “The whole experience makes you think how you spend your time and money. There is so much that one person can be doing.”

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