Indiana

Chuck Baldwin spoke and exhibited Saturday, August 17, at the Indiana Amish Handicap [sic] Gathering in Monroe, IN. At least 200 Amish, all of them impacted personally or through family members, came to share, encourage, and learn how to better cope with the effects of disability. There was no set program other than the sharing of a common meal at noon. People began arriving around 8:30 a.m., and they all just visited and circulated from family to family throughout the day. Around 1:30 p.m., someone began to sing a hymn and the others joined in. Several songs were sung a cappella. The children played with each other around the fringes of the gathering. At one point, while visiting with an Amish gentleman outside about the difference between the buggies of the Amish community around Monroe (Adams County) and the larger communities in Lagrange and Elkhart Counties (most buggies in Adams County are open, without any top, while the communities further north primarily used closed-in box-style buggies), there was a sudden disturbance when one of the horses harnessed to a buggy and tied to a hitching rail jumped and fell on its knees with its head coming to rest on the railing - effectively cutting off its ability to breath. Two men jumped to its rescue, quickly unharnessing it and helping the animal to get back up. According to them, such occurrences aren't uncommon, and their quick action gave testimony to their care for their animals and their neighbors; neither of the men who saved the horse was its owner. The event ended a little earlier than expected when winds blew in and it became apparent that it was going to rain, so most people were headed home by 2:30 p.m.

During the course of the event, Chuck had many good conversations with the participants. At the end of the day, three Amish men had come to Chuck with requests for help: two of them needing portable ramps to get a family member in a wheelchair up into hired vans to go to appointments, and the third was looking for wheelchair parts for an old Everest Jennings stainless steel wheelchair.

With good advice from Steve Swain and Ned Stoller, Chuck was able to locate a selection of portable ramps for the two families requesting them and a source of wheelchair parts for the other family. He returned to visit the families the following week, taking with him printouts of the requested information and all of the contacts Amish would be able to use in order to purchase the items if they chose to do so. Chuck spent time on the front porch of each of the families' homes, getting to know them and sharing more about AgrAbility.

Submitted by Chuck Baldwin