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October,
2002
Hello
again everyone.
Well, another month has past and we have lots of new
news. October was a month full of travel and learning.
The month began with a trip to Sucre, Bolivia, where Jorge, Sandra
and I spent 4 days giving workshops and working with
the professionals at a large centre for children and youth with
disabilities. The purpose of the trip was to help set up an
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) program that
would enable children who cannot speak to adopt other forms of
communication. From Bolivia, Jorge was off to Caracas,
Venezuela, where he represented us at the “First Conference of
Ibero-American Organizations Of and For People with
Disabilities”. This organization represents people with
disabilities throughout Latin America and Spain, fights for their
rights and promotes programs that enable them. Equip K.I.D.S.
International is proud to be a founding member of the
organization. Jorge did a wonderful job representing us at the
conference, spreading the word about the importance of
communication and assistive technology for children and youth with
disabilities. Once our Cusco team was reunited, it was off to
Sicuani (a town about 3 hours south of Cusco), where we spent
another couple of days giving seminars and workshops at a
special-education centre with 400 students. This time
the topics of interest included both Augmentative and Alternative
Communication and the local production of assistive technology
(such as wheelchairs, walkers, etc). Back in Cusco, we
continued to oversee the Augmentative and Alternative
Communication program we run at a local pediatric rehabilitation
centre. The students there had been working with our
volunteers in our absence and enjoyed telling us about all they
had learned. And finally, at the end of the month came Sandra’s
trip to the 7th World Congress on the Inclusion of Children with
Disabilities in San Luis, Argentina. Of course, Sandra too did a
wonderful job of communicating our message of empowerment for
disabled children around the world. Other highlights of the
month included the “class trip” to the zoo, our participation
in the Day for Disability Parade and the Halloween party for
children with disabilities.
As always, this month promises to be a busy one. With
the arrival of the 24 pediatric wheelchairs, 3 walkers, toys and
supplies sent to us by Hope Haven International Ministries, we
will be busy fitting children with equipment. The workshops we had
planned to give in the north coast of Peru this month have been
postponed due to changes in the management at the centres
involved. However, this will give us more time to prepare for a
couple of new projects, including an Assistive Technology
Exhibition which we are organizing for early December. All
in all, it will be another interesting and productive couple of
weeks.
That's all for this month. Take care of yourselves and look for
our next update in a couple of weeks.
Happy
Thanksgiving to all our American friends!
Sincerely,
Dana Corfield
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Executive Director
Equip K.I.D.S. International
www.equipkids.org
dcorfield@equipkids.org
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