Back to the Wheelchair Workshop

Two brothers, Juan and Joel, were the subjects of our first interview this morning. Frequently, when one sibling is disabled, another sibling accompanies him or her to Transitions to seek care. In that case, Transitions is pretty sure that the able-bodied sibling is the family's designated caretaker. Often, Transitions tries to get that sibling into an educational program or job training as an additional way of helping out the disabled person. That was the case with Juan and Joel. Although we don't know exactly what happened to Juan, we know he was 17 when he had the accident that led to his paralysis. Within a few months after Juan's accident, the boys' mother died. At that point, Juan had ulcers on his skin, he couldn't walk, and he was going downhill. Several of the family members told him they didn't have anything more to do for him, and they figured he would die.

A Peace Corps volunteer in the boys' community, by accident, met John Bell, who was able to get Juan into care, and get him fitted for a wheelchair. Keep in mind that, initially, "care" means not only the wheelchair, but how to live life as a disabled person, how to care for one's personal hygiene, and how to face the world. Joel, at age 15, came with Juan, and was given all of this training, as well. In the village where the boys lived, they had slept on dirt floors and expected to earn money doing something like their father had done, which was to haul people and things in their pick-up. Coming to Antigua was a completely new experience - they slept on a mattress, and with sheets, and there were electronics, among many other new aspects to their experience. Juan worked his way through the various positions in the wheelchair workshop, and now he makes cushions, an ultra-important job because cushions often are the key to health for a wheelchair rider. Joel also took advantage of the educational opportunities. He learned English and went to school. He also trained with the technician who makes prostheses. In fact, he was the person who put together Aulalia's new legs. (See yesterday's post.) Their life is completely different than it had been before the accident.

Our second interview was with Rodney's mother, Mildred. Rodney is a child with cerebral palsy who attends the San Antonio Aguas Calientes special ed class (discussed in earlier posts). We visited him and his family at their home earlier in the trip. Rodney went to the workshop this morning to have his wheelchair maintained and adjusted. He traveled with Mildred, his mother, and his younger sister, whose name I cannot spell. While Mildred was being interviewed, the sister pushed two of us around in a basketball wheelchair, borrowed my camera to take pictures of EVERYBODY,and generally kept us all smiling.