I know you all tune into this blog mainly to read about my seemingly endless supply of weird food and/or livestock stories, but I must take a short break from my mindless musings to bring you a posting with substance. I know, I know… this is certainly not my strong suit. But let’s give it a whirl, shall we?
As aforementioned, I have been working with a group here in San Miguel that is aimed at helping the disabled population in the surrounding area. When you take a disability and throw in the factors of extreme poverty and a remote location, the problem is exacerbated greatly. There are very few resources here; case in point: San Miguel’s health clinic is equipped with one wheelchair, which, I kid you not, is a plastic lawn chair rigged up with two small wheels on the bottom.
In addition to the physical problems, the handicapped of San Miguel have to deal with the stigmatism of an uneducated population. Many people look at them as freaks and treat them like outcasts.
For these reasons, the civil association “Grupo de Apoyo a Personas con Discapacidad,” or Group for the Advancement of Persons with Disability, was formed. The mission is two-fold: help with the necessary medical treatment and improve the overall quality of life. The group provides money for medicines, operations, etc., as well as offering sensitivity lectures for community members and special events for the disabled.
So where do I come in, you ask? Well, the group has for some time had the dream of building a rehabilitation center here in San Miguel, offering speech therapy, educational courses and more. There is currently no such facility anywhere in the department (department is to Peru as state is to the U.S.). I was asked to help with their organizational development and fundraising campaign. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to receive full funding for the center during my two years here… but that is exactly what has happened. Through multiple donations, the largest and most recent of which coming from an NGO in Germany, we have now reached our monetary goal. We have also secured a plot of land, donated by San Miguel’s Municipality, and medical/educational services through other local institutions.
The ground-breaking ceremony has already taken place and construction is beginning this week. In order to keep our investors updated with the progress of the construction, we have created a group website (just launched today!). It will be updated frequently with more photos and information… I hope you’ll check it out:
Dreams really do come true!
