The coast of Mazatlan

Mazatlan is on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. The city is a working port for fishing and also tourism with the 3 to 4 cruise ships that visit the port from October to May. A large part of the economy of Mazatlan is Tourism and the beautiful beaches are very popular for North Americans. Mazatlan is a large city of approx 600,000 people and is a very nice place to visit to enjoy the beautiful climate.

Like all of Mexico, the city of Mazatlan is home to a very large population who would be considered poor by USA standards and it is in this area the staff of Push International has been working for more than 5 years. Partnering with Asociacion de Padres y Compadres, the staff of Push International has been involved in helping the disabled poor in Mazatlan and surrounding communities to have a chance to receive therapy, mobility, education, employment and to try realize the hopes of a life where they can become integrated into their community. The Push International staff have been very involved in building the new Centro de Rehabilitacion in an area named Los Laureles and after 3 years of hard work the dream was realized in June 2006. In June we moved into our new facility consisting of a large rehab center, equestrian therapy stable and arena, sewing center, cyber café and stationary store, and wheelchair refurbishing and distribution center. Our goal has been to establish a Hub where people with disabilities could come for mobility, medical help, therapy and education. The facility sits on city block of land donated to us by the city and we are only in the beginning stages of development of the total project. We are currently working to construct a sports court that will be used for wheelchair sports such as tennis, basketball and rugby. We are also constructing a wheelchair obstacle course that will be used to teach new wheelchair users how to navigate inaccessible obstacles in their daily lives through our mobility clinics.

The existing buildings at the Hub were built with donations from local businessmen, city government, state government and donations from the many supporters in the USA. Push International is working hard to build a model facility that could be duplicated in many parts of the world where no hope for the disabled poor currently exists.

Each day mothers bring their disabled children to the rehabilitation center's co-op and therapy center to receive therapy. While the children receive therapy the mothers work in an on-campus sewing center or other job offsite. Visiting therapists from Mexico and the USA teach therapists at the Hub new therapy techniques which in turn the therapists teach the mothers. At 4:30 people come from all over the city to be involved in therapy and receive education on how to better care for themselves.