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The Teletón Foundation’s four main objectives are to foster national unity; to promote a culture favorable to handicapped people; to build and operate Centros de Rehabilitación Infantil Teletón, or CRITs (Teletón Children’s Rehabilitation Centers); and to fund institutions that support the handicapped. |
Since the Teletón Foundation began collecting money in 1997 it has built 11 CRITs in different parts of the country. The foundation plans to build two more rehabilitation centers for handicapped children with part of the money.
This year, two new CRITs opened last month, one in Yucatán and the other in Tamaulipas, at a cost of 180 million pesos each. With the proceeds from this year’s fundraising drive two more CRITs will be built (their locations will be announced during the drive).
In 2003, the foundation built a CRIT in Guanajuato to help children up to 18 years of age who have neurological, muscular or skeletal diseases. Currently, children from 42 of the 46 municipalities in Guanajuato are assisted at this CRIT, including 12 from San Miguel. “CRIT Guanajuato also aids children from Querétaro and Michocacán,” said Ricardo Guzmán, director of the center. “In five years we have already had 115 children leave the CRIT, of whom 60 percent were able to attend a regular school. The other 30 percent are babies who have reached an average psychomotor development, which means that when they grow up they could enter a regular school. The rest of them receive special education or stay home with their families.” CRIT Guanajuato has the resources to help 825 children, but it is currently stretching this by assisting 910. Guzmán said that 350 more are on a waiting list.
CRIT Guanajuato
| Ernesto Alfaro, a former mayor of Irapuato, had the idea to seek funding for a CRIT in Guanajuato in 2002 while recovering from a stroke at a military hospital. | |
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He noticed the large number of children who were also at the hospital for therapy and realized the need for a rehabilitation center for young people. “Alfaro approached Señora Fafi Romero Hicks, wife of then Governor Romero Hicks, and together they began the application process to ask Fundación Teletón to build a CRIT in Irapuato. That is how CRIT Guanajuato opened its doors on December 5, 2003, together with a second CRIT in Coahuila,” explained Guzmán.
CRIT Guanajuato’s staff includes 15 physical therapists, 4 speech therapists, 6 occupational therapists, 20 doctors (neurologists, pediatricians, orthopedists, geneticists, and nutritionists), 6 psychologists and 4 social workers. Female volunteers also provide the patients’ families with economic and emotional support.
“We also have a special program with young volunteers, between 15 and 30 years old, who during six Saturdays in spring and fall take our children to a park, to the movies, or to any other interesting place without their parents, which helps them feel more independent,” said Guzmán. During the summer, the young volunteers organize activities with the children for two weeks, also without their parents.”
Guzmán explained that the children entering CRIT are divided into three different groups for medical treatment and rehabilitation. The first group consists of children with brain lesions or palsy; the second group includes children with spinal cord lesions, amputations or congenital defects, diseases of the joints or neuromuscular diseases. The third group are babies who have been diagnosed with birth defects. “Each child has a different family and economic situation and requires a different treatment, and each child is treated by a team of doctors and therapists who map out a specific course of treatment,” noted Guzmán.
Facilities at CRIT Guanajuato
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CRIT Guanajuato is divided into different therapy areas, and the children’s parents are involved in their rehabilitation. Apart from the facilities for older children, infants receive therapy in their own separate area. |
A hydro-massage pool relaxes and stimulates muscles, and a parent accompanies the child and the therapist in the pool during the 20-minute sessions. In the physical therapy area, parents are taught therapeutic exercises so they can work with their children at home. There is also an area for breathing stimulation and two rooms for sensory stimulation through the use of light, sounds and textures. Another room is used for hot or cold water therapy, electrical stimulation, and a heater that stimulates nerves and muscles. “There is also a special machine that stimulates the muscles involved in swallowing for those children who produce an excess saliva or cannot eat,” said Guzmán.
An outdoor therapeutic garden provides the children a location to improve their walking and equilibrium, with its grass, cobblestone and sand. The garden is also accessible for wheelchairs.
A separate area is reserved for work with motor skills. “Here they learn to turn a key in a lock, to button and unbutton, and we have also a simulated house, with a kitchen, a dining room and a bedroom, so that they can learn to do all the activities they could do at home,” said Guzmán.
Teletón Funds
| According to Guzmán, the patients at CRIT Guanajuato pay only a minimum fee for therapy and medical care, according to their economic means. “The patients’ fees only cover 3 percent of the CRIT’s total expenses. Each CRIT has the support of the Fundación Teletón, but we must work toward becoming self-supporting,” explained Guzmán. “In some cases, CRITs are supported 100 percent by the state government. | |
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In other cases, the state governments only support the CRITs partially and business owners donate the remainder. In the case of Guanajuato, our CRIT is supported partially by the state government and partly by the foundation. We are looking for a way to become autonomous.”
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Guzmán said that the foundation is not rich. “We are in a deficit this year, since the foundation had made a commitment, besides the construction of two new CRITs, of building an oncology center in Tabasco and a health center in Chiapas, at a cost of 45 million pesos. |
This is because of the natural disasters that occurred in those two states last year. Teletón also spent 100 million pesos on a special walking therapy machine for 11 CRITs.”
The foundation also has a special fund for institutions. “These funds are granted to institutions that apply and present a proposal that is deemed worthwhile and feasible. Guidelines for application are on the Teletón website,” Guzmán said.
On December 5 and 6, donations can be given directly to Fundación Teletón volunteers, through Banamex ATMs, or directly at any Banamex. Donations can also be made by phone or via the foundation’s website. For more information see www.teleton.org. For guided visits to CRIT Guanajuato in Irapuato call Alicia de la Vega from the CRIT volunteer department to 01- 462-606-8606. For applications to be considered for treatment (children up to 18) at CRIT Guanajuato call 01-462-606-8687.
Centro de Crecimiento, a pioneer in equine therapy
| San Miguel also assists its handicapped children through Centro de Crecimiento, a nonprofit organization that currently helps 75 children. |
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Salvador León is in charge of equine therapy at Centro de Crecimiento. “A horse’s gait is very close to that of a human being,” said León. A very spastic person who cannot walk or whose body is very contracted could feel as though he or she is walking with a horse’s movement.”
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León explained the first step is to put the patient in contact with the animal, so that he or she can gain self-confidence. “The patient feeds the horse and caresses it. Then, when he or she finally rides it, the therapist rides along. Later, the patient rides alone,” he said. |
León noted that equine therapy must be prescribed by a doctor and a psychologist.
The Centro de Crecimiento patients ride horses at Rancho Morera, on the road to Querétaro, through the courtesy of the ranch’s owner. Salvador León also offers equine therapy at Lienzo Charro on Salida a Celaya.
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Last Wednesday, December 3, Centro de Crecimiento celebrated International Day of Disabled Persons with a series of conferences on disabilities with the objective of promoting understanding and acceptance of handicapped persons. |
On December 13, the center holds a fundraising posada at Hacienda de Landeta. Tickets cost 300 pesos. On January 24, the International Chili Cook-off benefit returns to the Hotel Real de Minas.
For information on donating to Centro de Crecimiento visit www.centrodecrecimiento.org.
Casita Linda helps families in Ejido de Tirado
By Jesús Ibarra
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Ejido de Tirado, a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of town near the railroad station, has been growing uncontrollably for 20 years. This working-class area now accounts for more than 20 percent of the city’s population of 65,000. |
It is one example of new colonias that are built up without municipal authorization. According to the Social and Human Development Department, some 2,800 families, a total of 15,400 inhabitants, reside in this area. Tirado is concentrated on less than one percent of the municipality’s total area of 156,800 hectares (605 square miles) but accounts for more than 10 percent of the municipality’s population of about 140,000.
| Many of the families in Ejido de Tirado live in extreme poverty. This is true of the Cazares family; Miguel and his wife, María, have nine children between 4 and 21 years of age. | |
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Just seven months ago, the family lived in a one-room cardboard shack. “We suffered during the cold winters,” said María.
“One day, when I came home from work, my wife told me that a group of gringos was going to build us a house,” said Miguel. “I did not believe her, but a few weeks later, when I returned home, I found people digging the foundation of the house.”
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With tears in his eyes, Miguel said, “I’m very grateful to Casita Linda, who built us the house. But even more, I thank God. I’m an alcoholic, but I have not had a drink in five years. I will stay sober to thank God for this blessing. |
Three of my children left school because we did not have enough money. Now, I’m working with Casita Linda as a construction worker and my children can return to school.” Miguel’s new house is made of adobe from the very earth upon which the inhabitants dwell. Its insulation properties keep the home cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
| Casita Linda is a nonprofit organization that has built 21 small houses in different rural communities in San Miguel. “Now we are working in Ejido de Tirado, where we have built eight houses” said Jean Gerber, executive director of Casita Linda. | |
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“We will continue working here until we feel we have helped enough in this community.”
Casita Linda’s construction team is made up of 12 volunteers and three employees, one of them Miguel.
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“We also have other occasional volunteers such as the seven high-school girls from Boston who are helping us, headed by Richard Becker,” said Gerber. |
This is the fifth time that the Boston volunteer organization Culture Links has come to San Miguel and the second time they have volunteered with Casita Linda.
| Students from Colegio Los Charcos, headed by their teacher, Wendy Coulson, are also volunteering with Casita Linda and learning about construction and adobe fabrication. | |
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Gerber said that Casita Linda has met with Jeffrey Rottler, owner of Tierra y Cal, a company that promotes building with traditional adobe and compressed earth blocks, in order to work with them and begin using compressed earth blocks for construction.
Casita Linda builds homes in two sizes, approximately 385 and 500 square feet, at a cost of US$4,500 and $6,500, respectively, including material and labor.
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On November 28, Casita Linda began construction on its 22nd house and the 9th in Ejido de Tirado. The house is for Jesús, a 30-year-old construction worker, his wife and four children. “We knew that they were building these houses, so we approached them and now our dream has come true,” said Jesús. |
Casita Linda appreciates financial contributions of any size, which are US tax-deductible. For more information visit www.casitalinda.org or call Jean Gerber at 415-154-9446 or through the US phone number (954) 727-3334.
Fire in Calzada de la Luz, the family with severe burns
On the night of Thanksgiving, a fire caused by a propane leak devastated the Cruz family’s home in Calzada de la Luz. At 9pm, a 100-kilogram propane stationary tank exploded. The 58-year-old father, Federico Cruz Pérez, received third degree burns over most of his body. He was moved to a hospital in León but passed away last Monday. The 17-year-old daughter, María Encarnación Cruz was also seriously injured with third degree burns and was taken to a hospital in Sacramento, CA. through the Fundación Michou y Mau, for burned children, headed by Mexican journalist Virginia Sendel. The 19-year-old son, José Guadalupe Cruz, has burns on his face, and is in Hospital General Felipe Dobarganes. An elder daughter and the mother suffered lesser injuries and are out of danger. Eighty percent of the house burned.
Eduardo Soria, a relative of the family, said he would like to thank all the friends, neighbors and people in general who offered support for the Cruz family. Any assistance would be appreciated. If you wish to support the family, write to Atención email address
news@atencionsanmiguel.org
and we will put you in contact with them.
Sweater collection campaign for rural communities
The Civil Protection Department is holding its annual collection of sweaters for the rural communities, December 2 to 12. If you want to donate any sweaters or coats in good conditions please take them to Radio San Miguel, Sollano 4; to the Red Cross, in Boulevard Manuel Zavala; to Civil Protection in the administrative building; or to the Fire Department; in Boulevard de la Conspiración. If you want Civil Protection staff to pick up your sweaters at home, call emergency number 066. The sweaters will benefit between 2,000 and 3,000 people in 47 rural communities in the municipality.
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