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Woman returns from Africa with mission

Physical therapist continues the work she did abroad from her Dayton home.

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Staff Report Updated 4:47 PM Wednesday, November 4, 2009

In the face of one of the world’s poorest populations and the heart of the AIDS crisis, Faye McNerney was reminded of her work in Dayton.

McNerney was part of a team of medical missionaries from the United States who served the people of Swaziland for 11 days last August. The team worked on behalf of The Luke Commission (TLC), founded by former Miami Valley residents Harry and Echo VanderWal.

“I started feeling like I was in my own job back home,” said McNerney, a physical therapist in children’s homes and with the city of Riverside. “What touched my heart was how many different ways I knew I could help these people.”

One of her jobs was to determine who qualified to receive a PET, or personal energy transportation. A PET is an off-road wheelchair designed to navigate the rough bush terrain.

The machine has transformed many lives in Swaziland and has opened up a new way for TLC to reach the disabled.

“(Children and teens) have been confined to their homes and never taken out because the grandmothers, who traditionally do all the care for the family, are too weak to carry them on their backs after a certain age,” Echo VanderWal said.

Since returning from Africa, McNerney has accepted a position at TLC’s rehab ministry.

In her first month home, McNerney helped secure a vital relationship with an American ministry devoted to the collection and restoration of wheelchairs.

Through a partnership with Wheels For The World, TLC will be able to collect and restore wheelchairs to combat the tough African terrain for just $25 a piece.

The VanderWals, along with their four young sons, will return to the U.S. and unveil their plans for the new adaptive equipment ministry at their annual banquet and auction Saturday, Nov. 7, at Cedarville University.

The ministry hopes to double the $18,000 it raised at last year’s function.

The VanderWals spent 14 years in the Greater Miami Valley before going overseas. The couple graduated from Cedarville University and each went on to obtain their medical degrees from Dayton area colleges, including Kettering College of Medical Arts and Wright State University.

Today, the Greater Dayton area acts as one of TLC’s main support hubs.

To learn more about TLC or the ministry’s annual banquet, visit www.lukecommission.org.

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