Arriving in Huambalo, we were greeted by so many familiar faces from last year as well as new ones. Immediately we were embraced by Diana, the physical therapist, that we had worked with from CITTI Project 2006. Last year Diana was much more passive, listening to every translated word, eager to learn about what she can do with the children with disabilities. We exchanged information around therapy for children with disabilities, and worked on making some adaptations for the children of Huambalo. At the end of last year, we left her with some ideas and adaptions for the children. Some of the positioning supports that we provided included foam wedges, rolled up towels for leg abduction, and hand splints.
Throughout our conversations Diana kept on asking us for information about "plastics" and we provided her with what we knew based on our knowledge of materials that can be for positioning. This year, the dynamics had shifted...and Diana was now eager to show us what she had made since last year´s project. The excitement in her eyes and the smile on her face as she brought us into her therapy room to show her adaptations did not require translation.
Diana, from some of the ideas of how to create supports from local sustainable materials, had created seated positioning supports out of pvc materials. She took large pvc pipes, cut them in half, then molded them over a gas kitchen stove using the end of a broom stick to create the curves. Then, she was able to borrow a drill to attach fasteners for the velcro straps for the seats. She explained the steps for the positioning seats, and that she created each one specifically for children that attended the school. Words could not do justice to the transformation that had taken place in just one year. (picture: Diana shows a positioning seat she made from local materials.)Diana did not replicate only what we had made, but she generalized and adapted the ideas and the seeds that were planted from last year to make it her own. She had found her solution to the "plastics" question in materials that were sustainable for her and taught us about them too. The dynamics had shifted - she was the teacher, and we were the students. In that moment, we felt the vision and mission of the CITTI Project materialize.