NEW Therapy Gym!

We cut the ribbon on the new Occupational Therapy Gym on May 25! Team 18 and the mothers in the rehab center opened the doors to an excited giggling group of special children waiting to enter the “Quarto de Juegos” (Room of Games). It was constructed to facilitate imaginative and integrative play opportunities for children and families with special needs.  The idea for the gym was conceived after Rita Correa, founder of Padres y Compadres, and the staff of Push International were privileged to met with Rosemary White, OTR/L, a very talented pediatric occupational therapist, during Rita’s visit to Seattle in the fall of 2009.

The new gym is a completely malleable environment that has multiple hooks in the ceiling where swings and different textured fabrics and materials can be connected. The idea is to give children the opportunity to construct a play environment unique to their needs and ideas. Fabric is hung from the hooks in the ceiling and then stretched down to the floor where the children can then climb through it. The fabric has different textures, stretch surfaces and colors and is used to give children proprioceptive and tactile feed back. They can climb through, under, over and between the fabrics, causing them to engage core muscles, motor plan, problem solve and interact with others.

The position of swings and fabric connected
to hooks in the ceiling can be changed at any moment allowing a hammock to
be a boat one moment and a vine hanging in the jungle the next. The room
allows children and their families to have a safe environment where they can interact and play together. Whether the family sits inside a piece of Lycra (fabric) together to roll a ball back and forth while decreasing environmental distractions, or 3 children collaborate and create an obstacle course and instruct their parents how to traverse it, the new gym allows anything to happen!

The new gym is full of endless possibilities for growth through games.

If you have questions or if you would like to get involved, please contact
Bree Lair @ bree.lair@pushinternational.org

May 2009
In late May 2009 a BIG dream became a reality! Over 20 children anxiously waited as the therapy pool was officially opened on the Padres y Compadres / Push International shared campus.
20 years ago Annarita (the daughter of Padres y Compadres' founder) had an accidental near drowning in a pool and was left with a brain injury and cerebral palsy like symptoms. It has been Rita's dream to build a therapy pool on our campus because she knows the great gains that children can make while they are in the water. The dream came full circle when Annarita was the first person to step into the pool; the same thing that took so much from her 20 years ago. As she stepped in, she let out a joyful scream, with a big smile on her face and threw her arms up in the air.

The new therapy pool will provide Annarita and all the other children with another form of therapy for many years to come. Some of the children have already made great gains in the pool. They are having a wonderful time taking part in their therapy. Videos of the chidren laughing as they do therapy in the pool can be seen on our Facebook page.

Picture of Jasmine enjoying the new therapy pool.

May 2009 - Picture of the the therapy pool on campus.
It is located near the dormitories and the sensory integration room. A garden has since been planted around the pool and grass laid in the courtyard to the left.

January 2009
The brand new wheelchair repair and refurbishing shop opened its doors on January 13, 2009! It was built with donations from supporters in the USA and is now open to serve the community in Mexico. Team 10, an energetic team of volunteers from the USA, was there to take part in the ribbon cutting ceremony where Sergio Valdez, our wheelchair repair and maintenance manager did the honor.

Push International’s new wheelchair repair and maintenance shop is open to serve the community on our shared campus in Mazatlan, Mexico! The new 'D' building is centered between the horse therapy arena and the occupational therapy and speech therapy office. The new building is a place for Sergio Valdez to adjust and repair mobility equipment on an ongoing basis. The new building was been designed by Sergio himself in order to allow him the greatest amount of efficiency and access to equipment, parts, tools and recipient records as possible.

The new shop is open three days per week to provide sustainable services to people with disabilities in need. During that time, people who have previously received equipment from Push International or other organizations, bring their equipment to the warehouse. There Sergio repairs, adjusts and teaches the recipient how to properly care for and maintain their equipment. People who are in need of new mobility equipment may also make an appointment or stop by the shop to receive equipment if it is available. If we do not currently have appropriate equipment for the recipient, they will be added to the list of future recipients. People who have been placed on the list and are in need of equipment will be contacted and individually fitted in the proper equipment as soon as a new container of equipment arrives in Mazatlan.

The old wheelchair repair and maintenance shop was located in the C building of our shared Mazatlan campus. This building has a storefront that opens to the street allowing community members to walk into the shop when it is open. In the Fall of 2008, the shop was moved off of the street front and into the new D building in order to make room for a laundromat. The laundromat will be installed in the C building and will be open to the public. The new laundromat will be used to generate income for the rehabilitation center. The laundromat installation is scheduled to begin in the winter of 2009 and we hope to have it washing and spinning by May 2009.