Therapy Centre

During my Community work visiting families during the first 3 years, I got to know more and more people in these communities it became clear to me that there were a lot of Children with “Special Needs” in the area, we actually built a small house for two families with kids who had disabilities.

I then began to seek out more of these children as they seem to be kept hidden by their families. Memories of Ireland in the 50’s..! I began to take care of some of these kids with Medication and Food, and in some cases we brought them to hospital for attention. Then I brought some to the Cinema for an outing on a few occasions. I then thought , how nice it would be if they had a place to spend some time maybe a few afternoons each week, somewhere they could meet other kids in a similar situation as themselves, somewhere thy could spend time outside of their home which was usually little more then a Hut made from Plastic and bamboo weave sheets. So in May 2008 we were given temporary use of a building which we converted into a small Therapy Centre, with a shower and Toilet, a small Therapy room, a small Kitchen and an Activity room 65 sq, metres in total. We opened with 5 kids and young people – Luis Alberto, Solin, Diego, Vanessa, and  Camucha.

Since then it has taken on a life of its own and developed to where we are now with more than 50 to 60 children and young people, attending regularly, and another six to eight young people who do not attend regularly buy are still supported by the centre. The Centre is very much owned by the Kids and young people, it has developed as their needs required it to, and we let it develop as the needs demanded.The kids and young people spend two to three, afternoons each week in the centre, doing activities which helps their Disabilities, and having some Physiotherapy, sometimes singing some times dancing even on walking frames…! We take them on outings regularly, to the Zoo, the Beach, and the Water Park in the centre of Lima or on Picnics.

The Families have their own support group and they meet on the last Friday of each month, and they have a valuable input into what happens in the Centre, and how it is run.

Overall Plan of our Therapy Centre

Our next Phase of the development of our Centre is to construct 2 Classrooms and toilets, so that we can provide mainstream education for kids with more abilities. We are hoping the Minister of Education will come on board as a partner, where by they will provide the staff ,as we will be providing the infrastructure

Your donation to some of these materials, however small will be much appreciated.

The cost of Labour will be approximately 15,000 Euros

Proposed Classrooms

This is a breakdown of the main costs of the extension. We already have the funds for the labour, which will be €14,000. We are now looking for funds for the materials. Your donation to some of these materials, however small will be much appreciated.

Map Key: Phase 1 : Coloured Lilac – Existing; Phase 2 : Coloured Orange – Begins in July; Phase 3 : Coloured White – Future Development