Student-built Ramps Make Elderly More Mobile
Two elderly Perry County residents are now much more mobile, thanks to the efforts of students in a Samford medical sociology class.
The spring semester course included the usual class lectures, note-taking and exams, but for the students, the highlight was a hands-on service-learning project. That's how two wheelchair-dependent residents gained much-needed ramps for their homes.
The course, taught by sociology professor Dr. Robin Roberts, covers aspects of health, sickness, and the sociology of human development and interactions when people encounter medicine.
Before the work day in Perry County, students spent a day confined to wheelchairs, recording their thoughts and experiences in a journal.
Claire Dorsey recalls the trip to the wooden house where they built the ramp with double handlebars with smoothed edges for easy access and mobility.
"I used many tools I had never had a need to use before," said Dorsey, who mastered a nail gun and an automatic saw.
She also spent time thinking about the woman who would enjoy the ramp and her life in the middle of nowhere in Perry County all by herself. "How difficult life must be, all alone and handicapped," observed Dorsey, a senior sociology major from Garland, Texas.
"My heart was so pleased and proud of what we were doing in Perry County that day. I realize that it was only one wheelchair ramp for one elderly lady. But this ramp could really affect her daily life. She could make it outside more easily and on a more frequent basis."
While the ramp may be a blessing for the woman who received the ramp, Dorsey said, "We were blessed just as equally."
"Not only do we get to be a part of helping another, but we also had the extreme privilege of following the calling of a Christian lifestyle."