Survivor Corps Fellows @scfellows - Tumblr Blog

Posts

Jairo is Survivor Corps' Strategic Director for Colombia. He's the only staff member for Survivor Corps in Colombia, but his knowledge, experience, and contacts have made this post second nature for him and allowed Survivor Corps' program flourish.

Advocacy in Action

On Monday, Jesus Martinez, executive director of the Red de Sobrevivientes, and nine other local organizations working for disability rights in El Salvador, met with San Salvador's newly elected Mayor, Dr. Norman Quijano. The objective of the meeting was to discuss an all-inclusive disability rights platform to be integrated into the Mayor's new policies, especially in regards to the newly proposed and highly contested Metrobus project.

El Diario de Hoy published an article with quite a bit of spin yesterday. The Commission of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities have not committed to support the Metrobus project unless the Mayor agrees to make the new system accessible (by including lifts and ramps, making adjustments of local bus stops and curbs, and include modifications for people with visual impairments).

"Transportation is one of the biggest obstacles for people with disabilities in El Salvador," Martinez said.

The current system is a socially constructed form of discrimination. For example a person who uses a wheelchair, who cannot afford their own vehicle or who does not have someone who can assist them to get on and off the bus, faces obstacles that sometimes leave them confined to their home or neighborhood. In a city without ramps or enforced regulations to keep sidewalks clear from obstructions (such as parked cars) travel becomes an obstacle course. Without being able to travel freely in the city, persons with disabilities are then forced to face another level of instututional barriers.

If transportation is nearly impossible, think about how difficult it would be to find a job, go to a doctor's appointment, or even complete daily tasks such as grocery shopping or taking your children to school.

This was only the Commission's first meeting with the Mayor's office. Martinez and his associates are hopeful that in the coming weeks there will be a commitment from Quijano to make the new transportation system completely accessible for persons with disabilities. Alberto Monterrosa, assistant manager of Municipal Public Participation office, and David Reyes, a member of the Legislative Assembly who himself uses a wheelchair, have committed to help push the accessibility policy through.

#El Salvador #San Salvador #disability rights #metrobus

Juan Pablo Salazar is the young and energetic President of Fundación ArcÁngeles, a partner organization of Survivor Corps in Bogotá, Colombia. Juan Pablo discusses the issue of disabilities in Colombia, how the 40 year + civil war affects the way his organization works, and the partnership with Survivor Corps.

When you first meet Selena you notice the sparkle in her eyes, if you look a little closer you can see a girl wiser and more mature than most her age. In many ways Selena Romero is like any other 13 year old girl I've met. She likes to hang out with her friends, play basketball, listen to music and loves fashion. She always makes sure her earrings match her shirt and spends more than enough time fixing her long dark hair before school. What you don't notice right away when you first meet Selena, is that she uses a prosthetic leg.

Last year after complications from thrombosis (a severe blood clot), Selena lost her left leg. Doctors were forced to amputate above the knee after severe damage due to oxygen loss from the clot. She spent just over three months in the hospital recuperating and several months in physical therapy. After receiving continued peer support from Dimas Gonzalez, outreach worker for the Red de Sobrevivientes, she was determined to get back to life and finish the school year with her friends.

Selena received a prosthetic leg from the Red de Sobrevivientes just four months ago. They say that children learn fast, they bounce back, they're resilient. In Selena's case nothing could be more true. She practiced for hours every day with her new prosthetic leg until she was strutting like a model on the catwalk. She doesn't use her crutches anymore and hasn't sat in a wheelchair since the day she received her prosthetic leg. She started playing basketball again with her friends, and two months ago she picked up her old rusty bike and re-taught herself to ride.

"I fell a lot and scratched my arms," she said, "but now its easy. I ride to school everyday and can still beat my little cousin in a race."

Selena will be in seventh grade this year. She is excited about going to middle school, her favorite subject is math, and she aspires to be a medical doctor one day. A typical teenage girl with a very special personality trait. Selena is a survivor. She took the trauma from her amputation and turned it into motivation.

Marina was half an hour away from being forcefully recruited to the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrilla group. Female guerrillas had told her their commander wanted Marina to "work" with him. "Work" in this regard meant helping plan operations and serving as his personal escort. Marina fled to Medellín, just minutes before the female guerrillas returned to take her away, and found herself taken in by nuns in a convent. With help from the nuns, she found work at a daycare and went to school at night and on the weekends, eventually receiving her high school diploma.

The nuns sent her to the little town of San Francisco where a priest was to take on missionary work around Colombia. Marina joined him and upon return settled into life in San Francisco. At just 25 years old, she has worked her way up to Vice President of Renacer con Fe, the organization with which Survivor Corps collaborates on reconciliation projects. She is in charge of programs regarding the forcefully displaced in her area, of which group Marina herself is a member.

Marina has a lot on her hands; raising a 17 month old son by herself, maintaining a relationship with her family who is too afraid of violence recurring around San Francisco to visit her, dealing with the trauma of forced displacement, of almost having been forcefully recruited into the FARC, and worrying about the father of her son who is gone serving the obligatory military requirement.

Marina is a candid person, and that's what I like about her. She's not afraid to breastfeed in public, wake me up from naps, ask me personal questions, or be on her own (or at least she hides it well).

Meeting Marina and seeing her rise above the stresses and dangers in her life is amazing to me. One tries to imagine oneself in these situations and think, "What would I do in her shoes." I hope that I would be as determined as Marina to make life work and give back.

A demobilized paramilitary wants the best for his village

Don Diego feels remorse for his time as a paramilitary. He was in the autodefensas (self-defense forces) for almost four years, only a few months of which entailed an actual combat position. Don Diego was (and still is) close with a paramilitary commander named MacGiver (pronounced, mock-gee-bear), whose autodefensas career began in 1988 after the murder of his brother by the ELN guerrilla group.

Don Diego joined the paramilitaries in 2000. He says he joined to end the injustices carried out by guerrillas which were very active in that time in his village. He wanted to protect people. Because of his close relationship with MacGiver, Diego was appointed as head of social programs for the autodefensas around San Francisco, where both men are from. Through this post, Diego would liaise between the village and MacGiver, coordinating the construction of new roads, infrastructure such as street lamps, and other projects.

Diego's take on his country's conflict struck me as suprisingly lucid. The high exposure to propaganda through cable news and the armed groups themselves let alone his obvious bias to the group of which he was a member seemed to not effect his explanation. He was demobilized in 2005 through the Justice and Peace Law, which aims to "negotiat[e] the transition to peace with the right-wing paramilitary groups, by offering them incentives to give up fighting and at the same time redress the victims, ensuring justice and finding the truth." He is confident that almost everyone from San Francisco involved in the autodefensas has been successfully demobilized, but fears the lack of job opportunities in his village may end up back with the autodefensas in another part of Colombia.

What Diego wanted to make very clear with me is when explaining how the autodefensas worked in San Francisco, is that he is NOT generalizing about paramilitary groups. He can only speak for the San Francisco autodefensas. They took up arms in 2000 because the guerrillas were invading and the Colombian military was not present and did not seem to be planning a presence. He does not know what the other autodefensas do or why they join.

I asked Don Diego, as his friends call him, why he decided to get involved in the reconciliation process. He told me he didn't have a lot going on (a common situation for San Francisco citizens) and he, without sharing details, he explained that when he first joined the paramilitaries he was involved in combat. Enough said. He seemed to have some skeletons in the closet he did not feel comfortable sharing with me in the presence of his wife (above). He instead emphasized the experience he had as head of social programs. He was also proud to have been the liaison between the encarcerated MacGiver and victims in San Francisco. Victims ended up being about to visit MacGiver in the high-security Bogotá prison where he is serving a 20 year sentence, all on MacGiver's bill.

Don Diego is proud of MacGiver's social bent while commander of the paramilitaries around San Francisco. He, like MacGiver, want to see their village succeed. Diego is disappointed with the lack of government subsidies or even interest in his village. He envisions San Franciscan's harvesting sugar cane or tending to any kind of farming, but does not think the government will provide such opportunities. Until then, Diego is doing his part by participating in reconciliation forums and conflict resolution workshops. Don Diego is surviving life after autodefensas.

This Reconciliation Project Fair commemorates three reconciliation projects in action across the department of Antioquia in Colombia. After more than 40 years of civil war between right wing paramilitaries, left wing guerrillas, and the military, these survivors have overcome unimaginable pain and loss. Watch this video to learn more about the event and each project! Survivor Corps and ConCiudadania contributed to the organizations' projects.

"I learned how to transform my pain."

It has not been easy for Martha Gil to learn how to forgive. During guerrilla occupation of her village in 2002, her son was killed. She told me the story with obvious pain still penetrating her body. She fidgeted and stared at her hands while telling me hurriedly that her son is gone. She would quickly look at me, touch my shoulder, then continue her story.

When she decided to take a course on mental health from Survivor Corps partner ConCiudadania, it was very therapeutic. Upon graduation from the course, Martha returned to her village of San Francisco and now herself leads therapy groups for adults and children as a Promotora de Vida y Salud Mental, in English: Life and Mental Health Promoter. "I learned how to transform my pain."

Martha's diploma from ConCiudadania which certified her to lead the groups is proudly hung on her living room wall next to two photos of her receiving the certificate at a ConCiudadania ceremony. These three pictures take up half of the photos in the room. She is proud.

Landmine Survivors Network Vietnam is up and blogging!

Please check it out!

http://lsnv.tumblr.com/

As part of my work as a fellow I've been giving one-on-one trainings about new media to the outreach workers and staff of la Red de Sobrevivientes. Last week, outreach worker Dimas Gonzalez and I sat down to piece together a short slide show presentation about survivor Josseline Salguero.

Just last year Josseline lost her right leg above the knee after she stepped on an undetonated grenade while playing with friends in a field near her home. While in the hospital, she received peer support and coping skills from the Red's outreach worker Vanessa Torres. Since her release from the hospital, she has been visited in her home on a regular basis by Dimas. Dimas and Josseline have formed a special bond. As someone who has also lost a leg as a result of the civil war, Dimas can identify with Josseline on many levels.

We felt it was appropriate for Dimas to use his own voice to tell the story of Josseline's recovery and transition to survivorship. Josseline received a new prosthetic leg from the Gloria Kriete Foundation and the Red wanted to showcase her story during a special event held last week. The photos, videos, voiceover and creative eyes behind this video belong to Dimas. My contribution is the technical support...teaching Dimas to use the tools like the Flip Camera and Windows Movie Maker.

When I asked the proprietor of my hotel in Santa Fe de Antioquia if he knew of anyone I could speak to that worked with survivors of landmines or people with disabilities, his eyes immediately lit up. “Herminia Vargas!” Without provocation he already had her on the line and made a lunch appointment for us. My secretary then told me a bit more about Herminia; she was in a car accident which left her in a wheel chair and now runs an organization for children with disabilities. While not exactly what I was looking for, I am still very interested in this subject especially in developing countries. How are children with disabilities seen? What kind of services does Colombian society think are appropriate? Does treatment of children with disabilities in Colombia fit my stereotype of a developing country that hides its kids with special needs?

Herminia showed up to the hotel for lunch about a half an hour late (still on time in Latin America), and immediately lit up the room. She is in her mid 60s, soft spoken, has a great sense of humor, and blunt about the reality of her current condition.

Our conversation started off on the history of her organization, CoLoReSA (Corporación Local para la Rehabilitación de Discapacitados de Santa Fe de Antioquia), of which she is the president. The name of the organization at first caused the skeptic in me to raise questions, “Rehabilitation? It's not like one's aim should be curing a disability of a child. Discapacitados? (Eng: Disabled, handicapped) I thought everyone in the special needs community knew it was more dignified to address the human side of the person and then the disabilities, like children with disabilities. I suppose that word mix couldn't create such a catchy title and probably these considerations have not yet made their way to the countryside north of Medellin.

As Herminia and I talked more, I realized what an enigma she is and perhaps why my hasty hotel manager was so eager to hook us up. Hers is the only organization in the region offering services to children with disabilities. When her accident occurred 9 years ago, she was not sure what to do. Then she started getting more and more involved in the disability community. She was incredibly moved by learning more about the almost clandestine nature of children with disabilities. They aren't allowed a place in most “regular” schools in Colombia, and most parents can't afford the special needs schools or institutes. With some money left by a deceased relative, Coloresa was opened 5 years after Herminia's accident, offering school, physical therapy, psychology, and a community of special needs families supporting one another.

Coloresa is still needing support. Herminia says she knows there are non-governmental organizations with money to donate to organizations like hers and she's sure there are government grants for children with special needs, but she doesn't know how to access these channels. I'm hoping to hook up Herminia with the saavy Juan Pablo from Fundación ArcÁngeles for support.

Herminia humbly tells me that Coloresa and her kids give her a reason to wake up in the morning. I can see in her face that it is exponentially more than this. After our talk she and I took a stroll around the little Santa Fe de Antioquia, talking about the points of interest and waving at Herminia's friends. As we went along, Herminia, gracefully cruising down the cobblestone streets without breaking a sweat, shared with me her vision of Santa Fe de Antioquia as a major tourist destination. The slow lifestyle, the Puente del Occidente, birds, butterflies, the status as former capital of Antioquia department, and...the slow lifestyle were all reasons why tourists would be interested in this small town, Herminia informed me. Herminia is a woman with a vision; a vision for her slow moving town and its children. Though her semantics may not be up to my sensitive standards, Herminia's dedication and vision is groundbreaking in her region. Herminia lives Rise Up, Give Back.

I’m leaving on a jet plane…

Don’t know when I’ll be back again… Which is what makes leaving Rwanda so difficult. Over the past ten weeks, I have made great friends and had “wonderful moments.” This experience would not have been possible without the support of so many friends, family members and colleagues. Thank you to… everyone who donated to help me get to Rwanda; Georgetown for its very generous “Improving the Human Condition” grant; Survivor Corps and the Advocacy Project for their support and guidance; my fellow fellows in Africa – Bryan and Laura – who put up with my dictatorial travel ways; my dad for his dedicated comments and grammar checks on all of my blog postings; my mom for managing to keep her cool all summer and not flying out to Rwanda to check up on me; and Zach for putting up with our poor Skype connection and managing to be there for me even when we were oceans apart. But most of all, thank you to everyone in Rwanda who let me visit, learn from, and just enjoy your beautiful country… To my friends at DUHARANIREKUBAHO (Fight for Survival), who welcomed me with open arms and shared their personal stories so candidly. To the counselors at IBUKA and ARCT-Ruhuka for allowing me to witness their important work as trauma counselors. To AERG, ALSAR, Women for Women International, PRO-FEMMES, Imbuto, RAPP, LIPRODHOR, and so many others groups, for doing such necessary and important work here in Rwanda, and allowing me to gain insight into their organizations. To Louis, for helping me improve upon my French. To Mussolini for never failing to keep his spirits high and being on every single bus I got on. To Albert, for his guidance, assistance in setting up interviews, and friendship. To Kabera for allowing me to see inside his world and never failing to inspire me. And to Muhire for showing me the hot spots of Kigali (she said that) and keeping me laughing. As with any trip, there were ups and downs, but the time I spent in Rwanda is something I will take with me for the rest of my life. I sometimes question how much I accomplished here and if my work had a significant impact, but one thing I know for sure is that I learned more than I ever expected. And while I don’t have a return ticket booked quite yet, I know I’ll be back. Turongera Rwanda…

#Rwanda #Survivor Corps #Advocacy Project #Kigali #AERG #ARCT-Ruhuka #IBUKA

The Best of Rwanda Summer 2009.

A Rwandan Name

In our final meeting, Kabera pulled out an invitation from a large folder. “It is for our 13th anniversary celebration. You will not be here, but I wish you could be. His Excellency will most be our guest of honor. It will be a very special day for AERG.” Kabera has dedicated a tremendous amount of work to this event that will take place on August 13th at Amahoro Stadium in Remera. He will introduce President Kagame to 4,000 of AERG’s members and honored guests, and the ceremony will celebrate AERG’s numerous achievements over the past 13 years. I tell him I am very sad that I will miss the ceremony. “When you go home, will your friends and family recognize you?” Kabera asked. “What do you mean?” “You have gotten so fat since you have been here. I don’t know if they will recognize you.” “Fat? Really?” Gosh, I knew the french fries were taking their toll, but was it really that bad? Maybe he was mixing up his words. Perhaps he meant tan? “Yes, when you came you were very small,” he gestured towards my arm and formed a tiny circle with his thumb and forefinger. “Now you have grown very much large.” He used both hands to form a new circle. Then he pointed to my stomach. Well, thanks for clearing that up Kabera. I pouted. The waitress brought over our coffee and juice. “Murakoze,” I said. “You are also Rwandan now,” he smiled. “You speak Kinyarwanda and you know our culture.” Hardly true, but a nice recovery. “You must have a Rwandan name. From now on, you will be Kamaliza. Kamaliza is a very good name; it has two meanings. First, it means gold, gold that we found in the ocean. Second, I call you Kamaliza after the very famous soldier and singer, Kamaliza. She sang during the war and encouraged the soldiers to go on. Although she died, her music still inspires me. So, like as you inspire me, you are Kamaliza.” Ok, that made up for the fat comment. We finished our drinks and the time came to say our goodbyes. “Say hi to Obama!” he said. “And you, say hi to Kagame on the 13th! Tell him Kamaliza says hello.”

#Kabera #AERG #Rwanda #Kagame #Kamaliza

Thank you and Goodnight Today is my last day at the Gulu Disabled Persons Union, and also the last day that I am likely to be around a reliable internet connection, so I think this is where I will say my good-byes. I have so many people to thank, and not enough words to properly express myself. Thank you to the Advocacy Project and Survivor Corps for giving me the opportunity to intern for their organizations. I have learned a lot and am grateful for your guidance this summer. Thank you to the great people at the Gulu Disabled Persons Union and Caritas Counselling Centre. I have been humbled by your dedication to improving the lives of your clients and by your efforts to help advance positive social change in Northern Uganda. Thank you to all of my supporters who so generously donated to help get me here and support me financially through the summer. Thank you to my friends, family and anyone else who happened to stumble across this blog. I appreciate the time you spent learning about the issues here in Northern Uganda. Knowledge is powerful and is the first step of progress. You can learn more about the work of both Survivor Corps and the Advocacy Project by visiting their respective websites -www.survivorcorps.org -www.advocacynet.org Thank you and God bless.

Rosalba Belebilla lost each of her 5 children one by one sixteen years ago. She's alone now.

Rosalba participated in Santa Fe de Antioquia's reconciliation mural on which survivors and ex-combatants worked side by side. They designed and constructed a wall depicting the names of Santa Fe de Antioquia victims. The names on the mural were victims of the conflicts between paramilitaries and guerrillas (and a possible social cleansing by the police). Rosalba painted 5 names on the wall. She is still unaware of who or which group killed her children. The process of creating the mural was very helpful for others but may have left many questions unanswered for Rosalba.

Kabera, the National Coordinator of the Association des Etudiants et Eleves Rescapes du Genocide (AERG), never ceases to amaze me. In our most recent meeting, I filmed Kabera as he told me about what happened to his family during the genocide in Rwanda, his new artifical AERG family, and his hopes for the future.

When I asked if he had political ambitions, Kabera diplomatically skirted around the issue (he would have done great on Meet the Press), but I can only hope that he enters Rwandan politics. Kabera is a natural born leader, and any organization or country for that matter would be in good hands with him at the helm.

#Survivor Corps #Rwanda #Kabera #AERG

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Survivor Corps Fellows