Merry Christmas from Children of the Americas

The nurses are packing their suitcases:

The supplies have been packed and shipped:

The team t-shirts have been printed and dispersed:

The patients are waiting:

 

Meanwhile,  until we get here:

 

We wish you the happiest of holidays. 

Dis-Ability or Cape-Ability?

 December third was the International Day of People with Disability, a United Nations sanctioned day that aims to promote an understanding of people with disability and encourage support for their dignity, rights and well-being.

Club Feet

Syndactaly of hands

We at Children of the Americas  are very familiar with disabilities, both professionally and in our volunteer roles helping women and children in Guatemala. During our annual trips to Guatemala we see children with twisted limbs, or no limbs at all. Infants with cleft palates that open into dark recesses of inner mouths; women with club feet that have never been repaired, or machete wounds that have created lack of limb use. Most of what we care for in the way of disabled women and children would be hard for our readers to see photos of. 


  During our annual trips to Guatemala, Children of the Americas orthotics volunteers distribute dozens of donated pairs of crutches, countless wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs, orthotic shoes and braces until we have no more to give. It is never enough; the need is endless, not only in Guatemala but world wide. 

Shelley, COTA Physical Therapy volunteer

A new COTA volunteer can easily feel overwhelmed with the pressing concerns of some of our patients. There are very few social services in Guatemala that provide for handicapped women and children. No handicapped ramps, accessible doorways, special bus seating or custom made vans. Schools are not equiped to care for children with special needs, and parents struggle with providing even basic care. The Americans with Disability Act does not apply to this Central American part of the Americas. 
But something special happens when new volunteers to our organization get through their first few days in Guatemala. They stop seeing our patients as dis-abled, and instead realize just how en-abled they are, if only through their positive attitudes and determination to make the best of what they have. If our patients don't realize their limitations, how can we do anything but agree? 

Brothers after donated club foot repairs