And even more chairs distributed

We had another very full week.

It was an honor and delight to meet one of Nicaragua’s wheelchair basketball teams at the Futuro de Nicaragua office, and a pleasure to meet Laura Dogu, the US ambassador, who came to thank Global Mobility for their donation of 8 sports wheelchairs.

We helped fit more wheelchairs at the Mustard Seeds orphanage in Managua and shared some loving. A very moving experience.

Back in La Concha we received more intensive training about wheelchair evaluation and fitting and continued distributing and adjusting chairs for children and adults

In between we gave an introductory training to 25 teachers about children with disabilities.

We finished off the week with a party to welcome the children back to school

Yeah for weekends!

A dream come true

Thanks to the phenomenal generosity and talent of Global Mobility, we provided 50 simple and specialized wheelchairs this week, specifically geared to each individual’s need. Global Mobility and Futuro de Nicaragua staff trained CIELO de Amor staff in evaluation, selecting, fitting and adjusting wheelchairs for each individual. Incredibly empowering and building capacity and sustainability here in Nicaragua. Global Mobility brought with them a complete spectrum of chairs from those specifically designed for dirt roads, chairs for children who have no head control, to children who can push themselves, and simple chairs for transporting seniors. It was a dream come true for us, as well as the children, families and adults who received chairs.
Ruth Jansen did a phenomenal job pulling together the logistics. The entire team of CIELO de Amor worked incredibly hard and learned a huge amount. We are thrilled to be able to provide this service to La Concha and the neighboring towns. Million thanks to David Richard, David Hernandez, Chad Richard and Danny Rothenberg of Global Mobility and Mario Sacasa, Cristiana Lopéz, and Carlos Rosales of Futuro de Nicaragua.

Estrellita received a tilt in space chair, which provided her with much needed support. Genesis also received a tilt in space chair and her previous chair was adapted for Tayde who does not need as much head support. Cristopher received a “Rough rider” which is specially designed for dirt roads. His mother no longer has to carry him on her shoulders. You can also see below some of the chairs that people were using previously.

We also gave chairs to seniors.

Great team work.

A great start to 2016

As of January 1st 2016 the four local staff will be working full time, have work contracts and will be receiving full benefits including health care, pension, vacation etc. The staff are passionate, talented, hard working, open to learning, caring, creative, fun and it is a delight to take this next step with them. Without them CIELO de Amor would not be the successful program that it has become. Muchas gracias, Liseth, Wilmer, Jahoska, Yereld.

Ezekial our lawyer has been invaluable supporting us in getting to this important stage of development. With staff working full time, we will be able to offer greater frequency of service, as well as having time to follow up on the systems that Sandy set up for us. We will also be able to follow up further with medical issues, such as braces or seizure medication, and offer more parent support. 2016 is getting off to a great start. Wishing all our friends, family, colleagues and supporters, a very happy, healthy and rewarding year. Thanks for supporting CIELO de Amor.