Piña Palmera, rehabilitation based on and by the community
https://www.somoshermanos.mx/pina-palmera-rehabilitacion-basada-en-y-por-la-comunidad/
By: Cynthia Alison Milián González
Photography: Pineapple Palm
Pineapple Palm Tree
The Oaxacan Coast is one of the few in the Mexican Republic that maintains its natural conditions of human and natural wealth, which has kept it as "a hidden paradise" conserving its beaches, ecological niches, nature reserves, tropical forests and mangroves. Prevailing its original cultures with the natural environment, cultural and natural riches hidden from tourism, this part of the State of Oaxaca has been designated as "the hidden paradise of Mexico . "
But even in paradise there are problems that afflict society and Mr. Frank Douglas, a foreigner marveled at Oaxaca, during his stay detected the lack of care and rehabilitation for children with disabilities on the Oaxaca Coast, in addition to noticing the few possibilities of their families to respond to these needs; That is how he created the Piña Palmera shelter in 1984 to attend to this social problem of tenants.
In 1986, 19 children, five employees and four volunteers lived in Piña, but unfortunately Frank Douglas died suddenly without being able to see his shelter grow and formalize, taking over the management of the Anna Johansson Center, in Sweden, who managed to legally establish the hostel in 1989 as a Civil Association.
She established the first relationships with similar organizations in Sinaloa, and gave rise to the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) that since 1994 has carried out annual summer camps where families and volunteers get involved in community work executing different activities. in conjunction with Piña Palmera.
Starting in 1990, Piña Palmera AC began to visit neighboring communities, receive volunteers who offered rehabilitation training, and a year later they began to broadcast programs on the local radio of Puerto Ángel (XEPX) in which Piña Palmera staff shared until the date, topics of general interest, such as: health, hygiene, child development, disability, rehabilitation and human rights.
At the beginning of the new millennium, Piña Palmera partnered with France and Japan by developing workshops, dormitories and learning and organization strategies to be able to serve people with disabilities through the ethics of care and social justice in indigenous and rural communities. that they are the most excluded, even by the same states in the subject of human rights.
The work of more than 30 years has granted this organization international recognitions such as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the National Institute for Social Development (INDESOL) and other national and international public and private organizations.
Its methodology has been a precursor to the monitoring and application of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, allowing it to advise governments and civil organizations in Brazil, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and different states of the Mexican Republic.Pineapple Palm Tree
As well as it has allowed him to participate in conferences on disability in Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Sweden, Canada and the United States; in addition to joining forces with research and social service institutions such as UNAM, UAM, Universidad Iberoamericana, TEC, the University of Scranton in the United States and the University of Upsala in Sweden, among others.
Pineapple Palm AC. has promoted and accompanied comprehensive processes of inclusion, rehabilitation and empowerment to more than five thousand people with disabilities and their families, mainly in towns of the Sierra Sur, Coast and Isthmus of Oaxaca, with the mission of contributing to the improvement of their quality of lifetime.
You can volunteer at Piña Palmera! This Institution welcomes you to contribute with your willingness to be part of the workshops and projects by participating in any activity according to your skills.
