Revelations 3:8
When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go, only one of two things will happen, either He’ll catch you when you fall, or He’ll teach you how to fly!
Posadas Amazonas Lodge
Since my visit there, this boardwalk has replaced the stepping stones making it easier and safer for everyone moving from one building to another especially at night when it’s pitch dark in the jungle!
Pepe Lopez (Apumayo Expediciones) and natives of the jungle hoist Sharon on the adapted Lifeslider Emergency Evacuation Stretcher, donated by William Moore, up a steep bank from the Tambopata River. “If you’re brave enough to try this, I’ll be happy to donate one,” he told Sharon before the trip. She was the first paralyzed person to visit the Posadas Amazonas Lodge located on the border of Bolivia. www.perunature.com
White Water Rafting on the rio Urubamba with Apumayo Expeditiones
My first trip to Peru was in 1973 when I competed in the Pan-American Wheelchair Games. I met so many wonderful people who gave their best to me. My husband and I, captains of the U. S. Team, met with the President and his wife at the Palace and talked with them about improving access for wheelchair users. For twenty five years, I dreamed of returning and “giving back”. In 1998 that dream was realized when I met a Peruvian Tour Operator, Pepe Lopez owner of Apumayo Expediciones. He shared the same vision of making his country more disability friendly.
Our first trip was to Machu Picchu on my fifty-first birthday! In my five trips there, I’ve visited most parts of Peru including white water rafting down the Urubamba River, boating at Ballestas Island, being the first paralyzed person to visit the Posadas Amazonas Lodge after being pulled up the steep bank from the Tambopata River boat.
People have asked me, “Why do you risk your life?” My answer can be found in the faces of the people I have met there who strive to live a better life. Though I was invited by Prom Peru to make Peruvian destinations more disability friendly for some 800 million people worldwide who have disabilities, my hidden agenda was to make the environment more friendly for the people of Peru who have disabilities and who strive to work, play, worship, raise their families and enjoy life like their peers who I call “temporarily able bodied”. I try to leave the thought with everyone I’ve met in tourism to share the reality that sooner or later in life each one of us or our loved ones will have a disability. Making our environment user friendly for everyone is best for all of God’s children.
My most rewarding experience on five continents was to be a part of the establishment of a sports group I named Cusco Courage or Cusco Coraje in Peru. In our first basketball clinic, there were five people. Within a year the “little team that could” grew to over a hundred members. Since then, I’ve collected and presented thirty sports chairs to Peruvian teams. And, I’ve written a book, Paco’s Gift El Regalo de Paco. It’s based on an angelic encounter I had with a homeless shoeshine boy and how he changed the way I celebrate Christmas. Due to a disability, the illustrations were painted by Dell Siler who paints with a brush in his mouth. I received a letter two days before Pope John Paul’s death in which he blessed the book and the Cusco Coraje project. With the proceeds, I hope one day to build “the house of Cusco Coraje”. A facility where Peruvians can be educated, learn trades, work, compete in sport, enjoy a warm bed and food, worship and live happily in an accessible environment.
Though I competed and volunteered in tourism on five continents, it is in the country of Peru where I left a piece of my heart. I will always cherish the memories and experiences I have had with Peruvians.
I will be uploading more videos as they are completed on my website: www.onaroll.org and on YouTube. I would like to use Peruvian music and need your help to find an artist who would allow me to use their music. Thank you so much, Sharon