The other day Martha was sitting next to the Gate at the studios and while talking, she was looking at the ants. There was one ant that took 27 minutes to climb a little 10 cm (4 inch) wall. The ant had to climb over and over again, till it finally reached the top…

It sounds very much like this story here…

No, this time I was not opening doors… I was sitting concentrating on some item on my screen when our door guard burst into the office and called me up.

Daniel! We have a man at the door, he needs help. I can’t talk to the Director of the TV station because he is in a meeting, can you come and check it out?

José our security guard smiling…

I tried to get out of it… I asked him if he had gone to see some other Bolivian personnel at the TV Station. But no one was available. They were either in meetings or not there…

So, somewhat reluctantly, I said: let’s go.

I followed him not knowing exactly what I would see.

We walked through the door, it was already dark. I looked to the right but did not see well. I could not make out what I was seeing.

Then I saw him, on the cement curb, in front of our Studios’ gate, he was there.

I initially thought he was crouching because he looked so small…. But he wasn’t.

I crouched down to shake his hand.

He had come for help. You see, as a child he had polio. We don’t see much of that in Western countries. Polio can deform your body. Polio has made his legs like useless limbs, maybe 50 cm long (2 feet). His body is like that of a seven year old. But of course, he is grown up and strong… but… he can’t walk. People have to carry him.

So, crouching down, I asked him and our security guard questions. I do not know how things work in Bolivia. So it is very hard for me to give instructions as to what to do.

The little man had come to the city to look for a wheelchair. A friend had given him a ride and had “deposited” him close to a hospital. That’s where he spent his first night.

He had come to the city with 40 Pesos (the equivalent of 5 USD). This is a big amount of money if you are living in the country side, but it is a very small amount of money if you are living in the city.

He had come to a TV channel next door to ours. This channel has a show where they help people. So every day they receive tens of persons in need of help.

A secretary comes out, checks who is there waiting and then decides who will take part in the program. At the show that night they raise money for the persons selected.

But Polio and the fact that you can’t move around, or that you have no money left to travel the 90 Kms (45 miles) back home is not bad enough. There are worse cases than that.

He asked if there was a place he could stay or where he could find help. They told him to go to our TV channel (two blocks down the road). They called a Taxi, loaded him there and shut the car door behind him.

The Taxi driver charged him an absurd amount for a drive of 50 meters (yards) and dropped him in front of our Gate… that’s when the guard saw him and called me.

What do I do? I didn’t know… I’ve never done things like these before.

So I went back to the TV offices and interrupted the Director’s meeting. There was Jenny Mendoza, she is the legal representative of the TV Channel, and a Bolivian.

I told her the story and said I did not know what to do. What do we do? He has no place to stay, no money, can’t move around?

She came out and talked to him. She knows the secretary that manages the show at the other TV Station. From what the little man had been told, it was clear that he was never going to get his wheelchair… his case was just not “bad” enough…

He hadn’t had a dring or food for some time. So I went to buy him some food. By the time I came back they had decided to have him sleep at the TV premises.

The next decision took me off guard. Jenny suggested we collect money from all the foreign volunteers and buy him a wheelchair. I had not thought “that” far. I thought we were just going to ship him home the next day.

But the next morning someone bought the wheelchair and he went home with it…

He was very, very happy. I guess a new world of “independence” had opened up for him. A dream had come true. His journey to the city had paid off.

the man of our story with Ferran
a volunteer from Spain

His sleeping out on the street that first night, skipping of meals, spending all his money travelling by taxi, the long hours waiting for the TV show, and finally ending up in front of the Gate of our Studios stranded and forced to ask strangers for help… taking the risk of being robbed, run over or simply abandoned… it all had paid off.

I believe he took a massive risk. Many do not dare to do the same.

These experiences always make you wonder… sometimes it is the little things that speak of great things…