Myah:

     This year I decided to go to Peru and participate in a trek to Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains. This has been one of the biggest challenges of my life . My Mom and I left Canada at the end of October and we got to participate in a wheelchair clinic before the trek. So many dreams are coming true for the kids and the families who recieved their wheelchairs and walkers. So many people who have worked so hard to make this a reality got to live their dreams too. I did too. I am so happy to be part of it all. 

      The group who organized the trek and the wheelchair clinic is called Equip KIDS International and provide all kinds of  assistive devices and services for disabled kids in Peru. One of the most important things that they do is to educate families and communities about how to live and care for people with disabilities.  Equip Kids believes  that every child, disabled or not, has unlimited potential and that they should be given opportunities to fulfill that potential. Nobody thought I would do any of the things I have done, including being able to walk, but as soon as they saw that I wouldn’t give up, everyone I have ever known has been behind me cheering me on.

     My Mom and I have fundraised since February to be able to go on this trip. It has been a lot of work but it has been worth it. A year ago I had never spoken in front of people before and I had never walked over 10 Km. I had never helped organize a silent auction or put posters up for an event about me and I had never gone to businesses and other strangers and told them my story and asked them to help. We are going to keep going too. We are going to continue to fundraise and find groups that work with kids in developing countries that need help.  Any donation is welcome, and it will go toward helping kids become the best they can be and to my quest to show people that if I can do it so can everybody.

     My disablility is kind of rare so nobody knew what to expect There were a lot of people, doctors and friends and even strangers that didn't think that I would be walking on my own , talking and making a life the way I want it to be. But I am. I believe that anything is possible because that is how I live. I have never seen anything that was impossible. Some things like climbing stairs or jumping with two feet off the ground were really hard to do for me but I worked at it, I modified the environment and my body's movements and most of all, I knew it was going to happen, I just had to get there. My Mom says that the only thing she can think of as impossible for me would be ice skating. But...if I wanted to skate on the ice, I would do it! I'd find a way, I'd practice and I would fall, get up and keep doing that until I didn't fall anymore and then I would spend more time on the skates than on my butt. I could do that. I would do that, if I wanted to. I don't want to at this point in my life. I do however, want to climb up a mountain in the Andes and visit a sacred Incan site called Machu Picchu! I can show people that I am a person first, that just happens to live with a disability, and just happens to need modifications and preperations for everyday tasks. I am a person that wants to show everyone that people with disabilities can do anything they decide they want to do. I want to show people with disabilities that they can dream any dream no matter how big, and if they want it badly enough, they can find a way to do it, to be it, to become the people they want to become.

My name is Angela:

I am Myah's Mom. I believe that anything is possible because I have seen Myah prove it hundreds of times. I always knew that limits were set by our own fear, but when Myah came into my life I found out how important it was to be aware of our own fears and to understand how they will control your whole life if you give in to it. Myah has always been a very, lets say...strong personality. She was strong minded and frustrated easily with a quick temper, which was difficult in light of the fact that every milestone was hard one through practice and perseverence. A major turning point for both her and for me was the day Myah moved on her own. She was just over 18 months old and  I had been praising her, cajoling and even bribing her to get her to just inch forward, just change positions to feel what independant mobility was like. I knew that if she could only see, even with all the work it took,  there was a pay off to doing something new, to seeing what was around a corner, that the world opened up around that corner and that there were infinitely more corners to explore. After so many months of work it turns out the spark that changed our lives was that frustration and the temper I had been fighting against. The only reason she threw herself forward and inched her way across the carpet was because I wouldn't get her a toy that her brother and sister were playing with. It was her toy and they were not sharing. She was infuriated. And it was enough to send her on a small, ungainly trek across a small toy cluttered living room to ambush a twirling fairy.  It was a wonderful day. Partly because she was mobile! Really our first sign that progress was possible. But I think the most important thing I got out of that day was the proof that this little red headed dictator would do what she wanted, if she wanted it badly enough, no matter what. And here we are 14 years later. Myah became the sweet, giving, wise and wonderful girl some of you know, but she has not left the strength and determination behind. I have learned a lot from Myah and our life as a different kind of family. Some days are harder than others and they really feel like just that. Hard. But most days are a celebration. Every milestone is a reason to throw our arms in the air and jump around. As Myah grows into a young woman, as she begins to find her way, I see a brilliant young light beginning to brighten the lives of the world.