Donations Needed for Future Hands-On Workshops

In the last few newsletters, David Werner has reported on the hands-on workshops he has facilitated in Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) programs in India and Nicaragua. He has also led such workshops in Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico. David’s unique way of working with and involving disabled persons, their families, therapists, and rehabilitation workers in the problem solving process is a real eye-opener. These workshops demystify the technical side of rehabilitation and help participants design and make assistive devices that meet individual needs at low cost.

Results are impressive. Sometimes children who have never walked before take their first steps with a walking board (parapodium). Or poorly designed crutches are adjusted for easier and safer use. And teams of disability workers learn the importance of listening to the needs and desires of the disabled persons they assist.

David is now 71 years old and finds these trips more tiring—though very rewarding. HealthWrights would like to have someone accompany him. Jason Weston and Bruce Hobson, who have worked with HealthWrights for many years, would like to start going with David on some of his trips to observe and assist in the workshops, with an eye toward eventually conducting them independently.

However, with their modest HealthWrights salaries, they cannot afford it. The groups that invite David for these workshops usually are not in a position to pay for additional airfares and accommodations. So we are turning to you, our long time friends, for help and asking you to make a special year-end donation so this work of conducting interactive hands-on workshops can continue and grow.

Three New CBR Slide Shows, Online and On CD

The recent CBR workshops in India provided material for three new extensive slide shows, each with captions detailing the interactive process of the workshop participants, the disabled individuals, and their families. These heartwarming, yet pragmatic stories show how, working together and putting the disabled person at the center of the process, assistive devices can be tailor made to better fit his or her needs.

See www.healthwrights.org/publications.htm for downloads, or order the CD from the other side of this flier.

PROJIMO Wins National Award

The Mexican Volunteer Association has selected PROJIMO for its “extraordinary work in favor of the most needy,” and awarded its National Prize for a Charitable Organization in 2005. This month Conchita Lara will travel to Mexico City, where she will receive the award from Mrs. Marta Sahagún de Fox, wife of Mexican President Vicente Fox.

PROJIMO Rehab and Wheelchair Programs Need Assistance

The PROJIMO Rehabilitation in Coyotitan has lost its main funder: Brot Fuer Die Welt in Germany. BFDW has been extremely generous, exceeding by many years its own guidelines for how long to support an individual program. It has assisted PROJIMO since 1981 and will definitely stop at the end of this year (2005). Although PROJIMO is now getting more recognition and support within Mexico, it still needs donations to help make ends meet.

The Children’s Wheelchair Program in Duranguito is getting increasing numbers of orders from various programs in Mexico. Although Stichting Liliane Fonds in Holland pays 60% of the cost and families pay something, HealthWrights still helps with supplies and equipment. Please be as generous as you can.

Spanish Training Program at PROJIMO

In rural Mexico in the village of Coyotitan, 40 miles NW of Mazatlan.

  • Learn conversational Spanish in a rural setting.

  • Volunteer in an innovative, empowering, community-based project.

  • Begin any time. Stay as long as you choose.

  • Individual instruction by disabled villagers.

  • Live and practice Spanish with a local family.

  • Typical Mexican food (vegetarians welcome).

  • Health workers, activists, and disabled travelers especially welcome.

  • Cost: US$150 per week—room and meals included.

  • Wheelchair accessible.

For more information on the program, click here.

To arrange a visit, contact the program at:

Proyecto PROJIMO A.C.

Coyotitan, San Ignacio, Sinaloa, Mexico

Tel and Fax: 011 52 (696) 962-0115

Email: PROJIMO_AC@hotmail.com