Herminia Vargas

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.