2020 Gumbo Final - Book - Page 64
Living With
Hope
Story: Ana Jones
Photo: LSU Campus Life
Design: Mariah Graham
a
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LSU alumnus starts organization and helps donate
almost 1,000 wheelchairs to Kenyan people
fter graduating from the E.J. Ourso College
of Business in 2015, Michael Panther Mayen
started using his newfound entrepreneurial
skills to spread a message of hope throughout
Africa.
“Being from Africa, and then having the
opportunity to come to America, I realized I
had a chance to do something to bless other
people,” Mayen said. “When you’re blessed,
you have a choice: you can either keep it to
yourself or share it.”
Mayen’s home in South Sudan did not have
any medical facilities to help him when he was
diagnosed with tuberculosis as a 10-year-old.
After a two-year wait, he was finally admitted to
a hospital in Kenya. Missions Doctor Tim Mead
performed surgery on Mayen to save his life,
but his motor function never returned.
Now, Mayen’s non-profit organization, Living
with Hope, is sharing mobility devices and
empowering people living with disabilities.
Disabled people in Africa are often cast to the
side, with little to no resources, Mayen said.
“They are seen as people with no value,”
Mayen said. “They literally crawl on the ground.
There are people just laying in their homes
waiting until they die. They don’t have any
chance at life.”
Mayen was given a second chance when Mead
and his wife, Jana, helped Mayen stay in Kenya
and finish school. Once he graduated high
school, the couple took him to the U.S. to look
at colleges.
Although he was originally looking at Michigan
State, Mayen decided on LSU because of the
warm weather. Mayen planned on leaving if
he didn’t like it after the first semester, but
ultimately felt welcomed by the University
community.
“I thought I was going to be a little different,
being in a wheelchair and being from Africa,”
Mayen said. “But all of the other students and
the professors just embraced me.”
Mayen was elected Homecoming King during
his senior year in 2015 and enjoyed his time
as the president of the International Student
Association, executive director of Students
Outreach in Student Government and founder
of the LSU Disability Student Organization.
“LSU was a perfect fit for me,” Mayen said. “It
was truly my home.”
Mayen also heavily credits his background
with business and finance as one of the major
reasons he was able to successfully start a nonprofit.
Living With Hope has already made two trips to
Kenya, distributing almost 1,000 wheelchairs to
people in need.
On each trip, Mayen is accompanied by a
team of physical therapists and mechanics. He
said team members became emotional when
over 1,000 people showed up for the 200
wheelchairs they brought on their first visit in
September 2018.
“Most of them cried, seeing these people with
joy,” Mayen said. “They literally come to us
crawling on the ground, and you just changed
their whole life. They can sit on a wheelchair
with dignity.”
For their next trip in July, Mayen said, the
team doubled its efforts so it could bring more
wheelchairs. The next trip is scheduled for