Time with the Executive Director

Alex Galvez
Aulalia and Her Birthday Cake

Although we have had the benefit of a great deal of time from John Bell, the former director of Transitions, life at Transitions has been extremely busy since our arrival. For that reason, we have only spent a small amount of time with the current Executive Director, Alex Gálvez. This afternoon, we were able to interview him for the video. Alex is, himself, a paraplegic, paralyzed from the chest down when he was shot entering a store to buy soda, in his early teens. John met him when he was in the hospital, having nearly died from his wounds and the complications that arose from the paralysis. John was able to arrange for him to have surgery in the United States, and to be fitted with a wheelchair there. Later, as Transitions was beginning, Alex traveled to San Francisco State, along with one or two others from Transitions, to learn the craft of making wheelchairs from Ralf Hotchkiss of Whirlwind Wheelchairs. We had a good interview with Alex, in which he was able to talk about the history of Transitions, the current work of the organization, and plans for the future.

Just before the interview with Alex, we were able to meet a young girl whom we are scheduled to interview tomorrow. Aulalia and her father left home at three–thirty in the morning and traveled on three buses to get to Antigua from her home in Huehuetenango. She is here to have her prostheses – on both legs – checked. This is a process that, in children, needs to happen at least once a year. Today was Aulalia’s 13^th birthday, so we celebrated with her and the Transitions staff with a birthday cake and the “happy birthday” song in English and Spanish.