Two All-Terrain Wheelchairs, a Taxi Roof, and the Edge of the Amazon: How Extreme Motus Chairs Made It to Casa de Fe in Ecuador

Two more Extreme Motus all-terrain wheelchairs in Ecuador just reached Casa de Fe, a children’s home in Shell on the edge of the Amazon jungle. We shipped the chairs to the Casa de Fe team in Mississippi, and they carried them the rest of the way — onto planes, taxi roofs, and a bus down to the jungle. Together with the chair that arrived last summer, Casa de Fe now has three Extreme Motus all-terrain wheelchairs helping kids with mobility challenges experience the world around them in a way that simply wasn’t possible before.

Who Is Casa de Fe?

Casa de Fe (“House of Faith”) is a children’s home in Shell, Ecuador that welcomes abandoned, abused, and special needs children, providing for their physical, educational, and spiritual needs. Founded in 2005 by Patti Sue Arnold, the home has cared for as many as 80 children at a time — many with conditions other homes turn away, including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, microcephaly, and other complex medical needs.

Here’s the part we love: Patti Sue’s very first ministry when she arrived in Ecuador in 2001 was fixing and fitting wheelchairs in Quito. Twenty-five years later, wheelchairs are still finding their way to her kids — they just have much bigger tires now.

How Do You Get Two All-Terrain Wheelchairs to the Edge of the Amazon?

Short answer: with a lot of help from some wonderful people.

Extreme Motus shipped the two chairs to Casa de Fe’s team in Mississippi, and from there the team flew them to Ecuador themselves. Desmond at United made sure two full-size all-terrain wheelchairs made it onto the plane and through every connection. In Quito, cab drivers Javier and Miriam looked at the chairs, looked at their taxi, shrugged, and strapped both to the roof. From there, bus driver Guillermo loaded them into the luggage bay for the final winding descent from the Andes down to Shell, on the edge of the Amazon jungle.

The Customs Stop That Turned Into a Hug

The only real scare came leaving the Quito airport, when a very stern customs and immigration official stopped the team asking for “documentation” for the chairs. They had nothing to show her.

Then they remembered the video — the 37-second clip from last summer of a medical student pushing Daniel through the jungle in the first chair, the one that became a mini viral hit. So they showed it to her.

After she saw it — and Daniel’s smile — she gave the team a big hug, waved them through, and said thank you. That hug made their day.

What These All-Terrain Wheelchairs in Ecuador Mean for the Kids of Casa de Fe

Shell sits where the Andes meet the Amazon. The terrain around Casa de Fe is mud, gravel, roots, river rock, and rainforest trail — exactly the kind of ground that stops a standard wheelchair cold. For kids with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and other mobility challenges, that has meant watching from the porch while the world happens outside.

The Extreme Motus all-terrain wheelchair was built for exactly this. Its balloon tires roll over sand, mud, snow, and rough trail, and because it’s manual, there are no batteries to charge and nothing to break down a jungle’s distance from the nearest repair shop. Caregivers, volunteers, and visiting teams can take the kids on the trails, to the river, and into the rainforest — places they had never been able to go.

Daniel’s 37 seconds of jungle joy got the first chair there. Now two more kids at a time can join him.

How You Can Help

Casa de Fe runs on donations, and 100% of what you give goes to the children. You can donate to Casa de Fe, bring a team to visit, or learn more about their work in Shell, Ecuador.

If you know an organization or family that needs an all-terrain wheelchair, check out the best grants for all-terrain wheelchairs or reach out to us directly. Stories like this one are why we do this.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an Extreme Motus all-terrain wheelchair handle jungle terrain? Yes. The chairs at Casa de Fe are used on rainforest trails, mud, gravel, and river rock in the Pastaza Province of Ecuador. The wide balloon tires distribute weight so the chair rolls over soft and uneven ground instead of digging in.

Can you fly internationally with an all-terrain wheelchair? Yes. Both chairs flew as checked baggage on United from the US to Quito, Ecuador. See our guide to flying with an all-terrain wheelchair.

How can I help get more chairs to the kids at Casa de Fe? Donate directly to Casa de Fe — 100% of donations go to the children, and gifts like these chairs are funded by supporters like you.