We have just arrived in Ollantaytambo to work with Leander at MySmallHelp and what a busy and eventful start it has been! It has become clear very quickly that there is an awful lot of need in this area due to poverty and a lack of understanding and education. Our first few days have been a whirlwind of meeting new people, administrative work and long conversations about how best to help the people here who need it the most.
One great achievement MSH has made this week is securing school places for a number of disabled children living in the area. Access to education and stimulation will undoubtedly make their lives much fuller and more rewarding. Yet this achievement creates its own problem of how to find the funds to send the children to school on a private bus each day.
We have also been working with the charity Awamaki, to ensure home visits to a number of disabled people in the area are continued. The partnership aims to provide support, stimulation and company for these people, many of whom have been terribly neglected in their lives because of a lack of understanding of their illnesses and a lack of resources and support.
As well as working on the Disabled Outreach Program we have brainstormed about volunteer schemes, taken the children next door who are sponsored through MSH shopping for new school shoes and watered the plants at a local rehabilitation centre in time for its grand opening in May. The centre will provide rehabilitation, training in guinea pig rearing and lots of other helpful services and is funded by the government.
What has certainly become clear this week is that partnership between different agencies and organizations is something that can be beneficial for all involved.
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