Rachel

 

Joe, another SMA lay missionary and friend of mine who took over some of my work with kids with disabilities on the Liberian camp when I left in 2011, was also able to return to Ghana with me over a year ago. He had been on the camp for 8 or 9 years, but during COVID he needed to return to the US. At that time, the new leadership of the US province of SMA decided to cancel the lay program, so that’s how I ended up with the French SMA and Joe ended up being in the US for a while, working with an SMA missionary from the UK on a Zuni Indian reservation in New Mexico.

Now we are both with the French province and back in Ghana and he is continuing with his work with kids with disabilities on the former Liberian refugee camp. He has a wonderful team of 6 people working with him on physiotherapy, basic academic lessons, providing lunch to the children with disabilities, etc. The majority of his team also has some personal connection with a child with a disability. 

some of Joe's team

 

Rachel is one of those people. I first met her back in 2004, when the physical therapist (a French SMA lay missionary) on the Liberian camp referred her to me. Princess, her daughter, was a 1-year-old with cerebral palsy. Around the same time, a few other parents of kids with cerebral palsy had also found their way to me, so we formed a small group to learn basic physical therapy and provide each other with support, advice, etc. Rachel was amazing in her dedication to Princess and following-up on the therapy when at home. 

It was a couple of years later - - in Nov., 2006 - - that I first wrote about Rachel and Princess: http://steveupdate.blogspot.com/2006/11/

 

Princess, 2006

The blog post from then has a few pictures of her as a cute 3- or 4-year-old heading to school with a backpack bigger than she is. It was a beautiful day – she was walking on her own to begin attending school. She, her mom and I were all so proud of her.

 

Princess in her school uniform today

with a donated tablet

Now, Rachel is part of the team working with Joe, and Princess is doing incredibly well in high school. She has trouble with speech and drools a bit, often keeping a washcloth with her to take care of that, but otherwise is a happy, lively and intelligent young woman. 

 

Rachel (center), with the other member's of Joe's outreach team - L-R: Pauline and Sarah

Joe recently wrote about Rachel and her family today, so I’m sharing that here:

 

Rachel with her "adopted" kids

     I would like to introduce to you an amazing woman. Her name is Rachel Bestman, a Liberian refugee I met back in March of 2011 when I first came to Buduburam refugee settlement. 

     Rachel has not only been raising her 4 children, (one with cerebral palsy) and 1 grandchild but also 4 children with disabilities who have been abandoned by their birth mothers.

     A disability in Africa is not a good thing. Many believe the child has been cursed or the mother was cursed during her pregnancy and some see the child as a snake in human form. As a result, the child may be killed, neglected, or abandoned by the mother.

    Rachel on the other hand has this amazing faith in God. She has no steady income except for the little I am able to help her with by God's grace but yet she takes care of all these precious little ones on faith alone.

     I believe if the world had more Rachel's it would be a better world.