Arcesio Lamprea

It could have been many things that made Arcesio so nervous to be interviewed. He is connected with Fundación ArcÁngeles through a job development program to help people with disabilities find jobs or make jobs more accessible. Maybe he thought I was screening him for a job (although I made very clear my connection to Fundación ArcÁngeles and the purpose of the interview). Maybe being at Fundación ArcÁngeles made him feel awkward. He could have just been camera shy or, most likely, he was probably uncomfortable talking about his life experiences with a complete stranger (who that day was delirious with a second round of a head cold that made her Spanish quite interesting). I didn’t immediately assume it would be the latter that made him seem so uncomfortable just because it happened so long ago. “It” being the day Arcesio’s life changed.

Eighteen years ago, Arcesio was a nineteen year old fulfilling the two year obligatory military service required of young Colombian men. “It was a normal day,” he told me. “We had just eaten breakfast, our stomachs were full. We were out on patrol in the mountains of northeastern Colombia for about 2 hours. It was 11 am.” At 11 am that day Arcesio stepped on a landmine that he reckons was probably there for around two years. Arcesio says he looked down after the blast to see his right leg completely blown off. All he could think about was killing himself. “I’m not worth anything now. What good am I?” he had thought. Arcesio’s left leg had to later be amputated when gangrene infested. He says the amputation saved his life.

Arcesio has since come a long way from his nineteen year old mentality after the landmine explosion. He no longer uses a wheel chair. He has a wife and an 11 year old daughter. He’s now looking for a stable job. He does not want to kill himself. The biggest challenge he faces now is not his own mentality, but the mentality of Colombian society. Arcesio describes the mentality of Colombian society regarding people with disabilities as condescending and discriminating. He says it is very difficult to find a job if you have a disability and people do not usually treat him like other co-workers. “I just want to be treated like a ‘normal’ person.”

Arcesio looks forward to finding a stable job, “hopefully watching security cameras or the like.” Arcesio has come to the right place towards reaching his two goals. Fundación ArcÁngeles is working around the clock to change Colombians’ prejudices against people with disabilities and aiming to create more jobs for this population. As for Arcesio’s tension during the interview, I can’t say. I was an hour blip in Arcesio’s life which is not long enough to make assumptions (although, is there really any time frame in which assumptions are acceptable?). I wish Arcesio the best! He is in good hands!

WATCH:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FScgcuG_kMo

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 Survivor Corps’ program flourish.

…and so much to do.  After my interviews in San Francisco this week and from a conference a few weeks ago, I’m trying to get everything done while soaking in Bogotá as much as possible.  Stay tuned for the Reconciliation Project Fair video which I will finish today.  I wish I had gotten about a million more pictures from that event, but so it goes.  Ok, I’m going to get to work now on my profiles and video.  I’ll be back soon.  Also, my Australian friend who doesn’t speak Spanish needs to go to the visa office and guess who gets to help translate.  What seems to be a simple trip can often end up being a bureaucratic nightmare.  She did say she’d buy me some delicious ice cream from the beloved Crepes and Waffles (a chain which gives opportunities to low-income women).  Not sure if it’s going to be worth it…

Watch Alirio’s Story of Survival here

CIREC is one of the leading organizations working with Colombians with disabilities in the country and even Latin America. Their facilities are state of the art and innovative. I was very impressed by the “Walking Room” where the floor was wired to tell where pressure and tension is being put in walkers’ legs. There are also lasers which track the walker’s steps to measure stress. The goal would be to help walkers to develop “normal” strides or learn to walk with a prosthetic with greater ease and comfort.

CIREC creates prosthesis and orthesis products on site. They also showcase a museum of old prosthesis some of which the owners rigged themselves with what materials they had. It was so interesting to see how far technology has come.

Dedicated to a healing the whole person, CIREC offers services that go beyond the physical. They have social workers and psychologists available for patients as well as a job development program.

CIREC is a International Committee of the Red Cross model organization for countries in conflict. Living up to this level of distinction, CIREC really encapsulates the psycho-social approach with its Seeds of Peace program which it co-sponsors with Survivor Corps. This program to respond to the needs of persons with disabilities and more specifically to landmine and UXO survivors. It seeks bio-psychosocial (which I’m still learning about) recovery to improve quality of life of this population and help it achieve its reintegration into society. The Seeds of Hope program is implemented in 5 provinces and 23 communities in Colombia.

I was fortunate enough to watch Colombia’s only Quad Rugby team practice yesterday.  I also interviewed a soldier who through battles with guerrilla group, the FARC, was left quadriplegic and without part of his right leg.  This video is coming soon.

Quad Rugby is intense and fast.  These guys are not afraid to crash into one another at high speeds and stick their hands down by the metal wheels of their chairs to scrap for the ball.

The US, UK, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, and Brazil faced off in a tournament last month in Rio de Janeiro.  The UK took home the trophy, but the guys were eager to inform me that the Brits had 3 former quad rugby Olympians on their team.  These teams will face off again in October in Argentina.  Having met their match with the more experienced teams, they’re ready to take them on again with a better idea of the competition.  This highly motivated team has a great time during practice; laughing, yelling, poking fun at one another.  I had a great time myself joking around with the guys after practice.  What a friendly group of guys!

Coliseo Campín: HQ of Quad Rugby practice

Quad rugby practice is fast-paced and high impact

Quad rugby scrimmage

Coach William gives some pointers

Coach gets in on the action

Photo by Lindsey Crifasi, 2009 AP Fellow. Location: Bogotá, Colombia. Partner: Survivor Corps.

Photo by Lindsey Crifasi, 2009 AP Fellow. Location: Bogotá, Colombia. Partner: Survivor Corps.

From left to right: Survivor Corps country director Jairo Arboleda, Fundación Arcángeles architect, and Fundación Arcángeles founder Juan Pablo Salazar.

On Friday Jairo, my friend Juliette, and I made a trip to Fundación Arcángeles.  The trip had two purposes.  Survivor Corps had just secured some funding for Arcángeles’ quad rugby program and Jairo wanted to check in and see how this project was going.  Another reason for the trip was for the Arcángeles people and I to get to know one another.  I hope to make a trip back soon to begin interviews.

The Arcángeles facilities and staff were more than I expected.  The facilities were housed in an old mansion which had been updated to be completely accessible.  There were two workout areas, speech therapy and occupational therapy rooms, rooms for more advanced therapies (involving machines I am not familiar with and won’t speculate on the uses or names), and many offices; communications, accounting, etc.

The communications department was working on a promo video for the quad rugby team, working off the “quad rugby is a virus taking over people in wheelchairs all over the world…!” theme. The team needed a panicked reporter to announce the spreading of the virus as well as the winner of the recent tournament in Rio de Janeiro (out of Argentina, the US, Colombia, Venezuela, the UK, and Brazil).  The UK took home the trophy, but the communications team and Fundación Arcángeles founder Juan Pablo Salazar wanted me to present the winner with excitement.  When the video is edited, it will be put on youtube and they’ll notify me.  It was quite fun recording my voice for the video, but also embarrassing to hear my voice played back over and over.  My face was very red at the end of it all.

Juan Pablo plans to add on to this space.  He wants to create a daycare for children with disabilities and a greenhouse that people can work on in order to improve mobility and dexterity.  As he, Jairo, and Fundación Arcángeles’ architect discussed how to make a convention center in Cartagena accessible for an upcoming meeting, Juan Pablo’s enthusiasm began to emerge.  He really began to glow as he showed Juliette and I around the facilities.  But, I think I noticed the most energy and spark when he and Jairo discussed some of Survivor Corps’ main principles and programs.  Juan Pablo commented “super chevere” (super cool) to many of Jairo’s summaries of programs as well as Jerry’s 5 steps to overcoming a life crisis. Juan Pablo remembered Survivor Corps founder Jerry White from a meeting three years ago and you could see links being made in Juan Pablo’s brain.  One thing is for sure: I think from the little I know Jerry White (from the meeting with him before I left for Colombia) and the little I know Juan Pablo, that they share a certain fire and vitality.  They should meet again.

Fundación Arcángeles was created in early 2005 in Colombia as a model of social responsibility and family from the experience of disability by Juan Pablo Salazar who was in an accident and fractured his fifth vertebra, leading to quadriplegia. The mission of Arcángeles at its establishment was to provide medical rehabilitation processes of care for people with spinal trauma and became the only organization doing stem cell research in the country. Arcángeles has been dedicated to improving the rehabilitation process and making technological advances toward this end.

Due to the serious issue of social inclusion of people with disabilities in the country, the foundation extended its services to social programs and in 2006 formed an office to start income-generating programs to develop the accessibility of jobs for people with disabilities in Bogota and Cali. It also implements small business- and micro-credit projects in various departments in Colombia.

Today, Fundación Arcángeles is an entity comprised of many organizations which provide:

• -a sports club with a presence in three major cities of the country and to develop sports as a way of life and with an emphasis on the development of the 21 Paralympic disciplines in Colombia. This element of Arcángeles also adds to the Peer Support model of rehabilitation that is essential in the Survivor Corps model
• -accessible architecture, and act as a consultant in the process of changing the culture of exclusion
• -a communications arm which intends to foster positive images of people with disabilities through the use of technological tools of communication such as documentaries, short campaigns, forums, events, etc…
• -development of inclusive jobs
• -much more

I will be going to Fundación Arcángeles in a few hours and will be able to provide a visual eye into their work and the people making it happen.