The Expedition Blog

We arrived back in Amman this afternoon to find the building with our flat locked and no watchman to let us in! We discovered that an emergency had taken everyone to Madaba and they could not return for one hour. After three days with no time for internet access I decided to walk to Starbucks to use the WiFi connection. Going to Starbucks in Amman and Lima still amazes me…

We left the south on Tuesday and traveled north through Shoback, where we stopped to see the Shoback Castle and ancient city outside the modern one. The crusader castle was fascinating, with tunnels and rooms to explore. We arrived in Irbid around 5:30 pm, and settled into two apartments - one for each gender - and brought in food for dinner. That night was a hot one and no one slept well. The next morning I began the day with a cut to my finger - obtained from the low hanging ceiling fan while I was dressing. It could have been much worse but it gave me a bit of a scare - Rick, Arwen and I are too tall for some Jordanian ceilings.

The next day we arrived at Al Nahda Center for the Physically Disabled for a day with the most severely involved follow-up recipients. We did 2 foam-in-place (FIPS) custom back cushions and 1 total FIPS seating system (back and seat cushions) with some great results. That night Rick had a similar ceiling fan accident to mine, only his required an emergency room visit for stitches to his hand and a prescription for antibiotics. We definitely plan to stay elsewhere in Irbid next year! Rick will be fine, but decided to take a rest day after that incident.

Yesterday we completed our work in Irbid with a number of kids and adults who needed various repairs and adjustments, and in the course of the day several wheelchairs were resurrected to a useful state. A highlight of the day was seeing Hadeel, a girl we met in 2006. She and her parents came for follow-up with her manual wheelchair. In addition we were able to provide an adapted toilet seat (part of our leftover stored equipment from last year) to make life easier for Hadeel and her mother, and introduced them to AAC. Hadeel, now 18, is clever and picked up quickly on how to use symbols for communication. She already signs, but can benefit from having broader communication options - she has a lot to say!

Last evening our friends at Al Nahda put on a party for us, with mansaf (the Jordanian national dish), music, a skit and dancing the dubka. We were each given a mosaic as a gift, created by a man with one finger on each hand who is a member of the center. We had a fine time under the stars in the cool of the evening.

This morning we arose early and headed northwest of Irbid to visit Um Quays, a site with Roman ruins where we could see Syria, the Golan Heights, the Sea of Galilee and the West Bank all at once. After visiting the museum we ate pomegranates fresh from the tree, before heading south again toward Irbid. On the way there, we stopped for coffee and a visit with Hadeel and her family and had a lovely time. Arwen and I decided that Hadeel should be the recipient of the 24 message digitized speech device that was donated to us by an ISAAC vendor in Montreal. It was such fun to see Hadeel’s response to the device and we are sure that she and her family will put it to good use!

Back in Amman we bid goodbye to Abu Malach, our bus driver and valued team member - hoping we can work together next summer. Tonight Jack goes to the airport for his flight home. Scott has another day with us before leaving on Sunday morning. We left Isabelle to spend the night with Hadeel and her family. Tomorrow morning they will drive her half an hour to the West Bank border crossing so she can visit Jerusalem, and she will rejoin us on Sunday night or Monday here in Amman. Isabelle goes to the airport Monday night to return to Quebec. Meanwhile Rick, Arwen and I have lots to keep us busy - visits with friends the next four nights, numerous meetings and a follow-up visit with one family we saw last week in Madaba, and so it goes.

All for now,

Tamara

We arrived in Ma’an this morning to find…no kids. Families had refused to travel the necessary hours to Ma’an from Karak and Shuna for wheelchair follow-up and we were faced with no work. Despite offers of financial assistance for travel, it is a long way from Shuna (350-400 kilometers) and the distance in summer heat worried Arwen and me from the beginning. Lina told us that many of the kids have major wheelchair needs but their parents need education so that they realize the importance of maintaining and adjusting a wheelchair - not just getting one. This model is not supported by the practice of dropping off loads of one size fits all wheelchairs.

But there are always hidden blessings, and we still had a productive day. A fragile little girl named Maise came and was fitted with an extensively modified recycled wheelchair; in a normal day it would have been impossible to complete such a job and do it well. As well, there was soon a line-up of broken hospital style wheelchairs, mostly from Wheelchair Foundation. The word was out that we were around and had time, so people brought chairs that needed fixing because they have no other way to do it. Southern Jordan seems to be especially hard on tires and it is not uncommon to see people wheeling on their rims. Jack, Abu Malach and Abu Bahar worked minor miracles taking parts from old un-fixable chairs and giving new life to those that were repairable. We joked about sending an invoice for our services to Wheelchair Foundation!

Today it was hotter - 37 degrees celsius according to our friends. We finished in time for several members of our group to go to the Turkish baths, and we are now about to head out to a picnic hosted by our friend, Rajah Kliefat where we will meet his family. Tomorrow we head north to Irbid.

All the best,
Tamara

Saturday was our first day working at the Southern Society for Special Education in Ma’an, a 40 minute drive from our hotel outside Wadi Mousa. We provided a workshop similar to the one at Hashemite University, but geared for a more varied audience of therapists, parents and teachers. We even had two audiologists in the group! After a lecture section we split into two groups headed by Isabelle and me, and worked with two children for the rest of the day. These were kids we had seen previously, who needed re-assessment and modifications and they were both good “teachers” for the group.

On Sunday we saw 15 kids, some for fairly simple repairs and others who needed more extensive work. The desert environment is very hard on wheelchairs. Some families had done their own repairs by welding parts when possible, but other problems required parts that we brought with us. We are learning so much about sustainability in the Jordanian culture. Lina, the OT at the Southern Society has been doing a fine job with follow-up and recycling wheelchairs that are no longer needed to a new child. For instance, we were sad to hear that Shaima from last year has passed away, but her Kid Kart adaptive stroller is now serving another small child.

Amira, with whom we worked last year came back for some repairs to her wheelchair, and left with yes/no symbols on her tray after showing us that she can use her left hand to touch the answer she wants. Amira is a lovely little girl but only her mother and her father can understand her communication, so this will open her world up a bit.

I must end this as it is time to head out for our last day of work in Ma’an and our wonderful driver Abu Malach will be ready with the bus. He is a delightful man who has become an appreciated member of our team and teases us all. He is also a PR man, telling people what we are doing here - which we learn after the fact when someone approaches us. Tomorrow we head north to Irbid to work with our friends at the Al Nahda Center.

Tamara

Last week on Thursday we had a good day seeing wheelchair recipients in Madaba with whom we worked one and two years ago. Some needed repairs that they were unable to complete themselves despite their best efforts. Others, such as 16 year old Yosef, needed significant seating modifications. We are completing outcome questionnaires and obtaining valuable information that will influence the way we provide service in Jordan. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this day was the alternative and augmentative communication we were able to introduce to Yosef and to 7 year old Nermien.

Yosef was already able to answer yes/no questions but the headrest on his chair inhibited his “yes” head movement and his family never knows when he has to go to the bathroom. Modified seating freed his head movements, and a switch that can be recorded with a single message (generously donated by a vendor at the AAC conference) solved the second problem. Although Yosef’s mother said he could not control anything but his head movements, we found a switch site at his right hand after completing his seating. He was able to reliably hit the switch and was delighted! I wish we could post photos but we still cannot make the software work for uploading pictures.

Nermien is a beautiful girl with severe cerebral palsy. She has a wheelchair that we left last year, and her therapist told us that her head and trunk control have improved remarkably since she has had the chair. We made some modifications to help her sit up better, and then offered “yes” and “no” symbols on her tray. Within a matter of minutes Nermien was able to answer yes/no questions, reliably putting her hand on the answer she wanted to make.

We left Madaba at 6:30 am the next morning and headed south to Petra for our rest day, arriving at 9:30. Most of us headed out to spend Friday in Petra, one of the new “Wonders of the World” and it was gorgeous! The weather has been cooler than normal for August; in fact Rick checked on the internet and saw last week that it was warmer in Missoula than it was in Amman. We had a wonderful day of hiking before retiring to our hotel. We are staying in the lap of luxury at the Petra Marriott, courtesy of Sheikh Mat’har who is the head of the Southern Society for Special Education. When they offered to provide our lodging and food we had no idea it would be at the Marriott – definitely not our usual type of accommodations. We are grateful for this generosity, which helps immensely with our expenses on this trip and allows us to rest in great comfort.

All the best,

Tamara

On Tuesday we finished Day 2 of the Hashemite University workshop, working with 7 kids from Aya Centre and offering practical experience to OTs and PTs from around the kingdom. Several of them hope to join us when we work in their communities this week and next.

We began today from our comfortable flat in Amman, packing our bus for 10 days on the road. We went to a tour and meeting at the Family and Friends Society for Disabled Persons, a wonderful program that was begun in 1994 by the mother of a child with cerebral palsy. We met some of the delightful young people who attend a day program there who are much in need of good wheelchairs and in some cases, augmentative communication. We look forward to working with them in the future.

After the meeting we headed for Madaba for a rest day, visiting Mt. Nebo, our friend Yousef Salwaha’s shop, and taking naps. We are staying at the Pilgrim House, a hostel that is run by St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church, the site of the famous Mosaic Map. They provide space for our wheelchair clinic, which will occur tomorrow in their school.

We decided to visit the Dead Sea in the evening for the sunset, at suggestion of Rizan. It was a great idea - it was cooler than normal and the sunset was very beautiful. Isabelle, Rick, Scott and Jack swam (rather floated) in the super salty water and we got pictures of them covered with the famous Dead Sea mud. It was a fine evening, and leaves us all feeling refreshed for tomorrow’s work.

Will try again to upload photos tomorrow - all for now,

Tamara

Everyone has arrived safely in Jordan, albeit with a few delays and problems. Rick, Arwen and I spent all day Friday in the Montreal airport because our flight was 6 hours late leaving! We thought briefly about exploring Montreal, since the conference kept us so busy we saw little of the city. But when we saw it was raining we decided that staying in the airport was just fine.

At the airport in Amman we were met by our friends Abu Aya and Ghassan, who took us out for a lunch feast of wonderful Jordanian food, bought us groceries and deposited us at the wonderful flat where we are staying as their guests in a building that will soon become a new center for children with disabilities. It is in a quiet part of town and we are very comfortable. Isabelle connected with us in Amman from her travels in Egypt, and Jack and Scott finally arrived at the flat after an unfortunate misunderstanding that left them stranded at the airport for several hours. Ghassan was all ready to meet their plan Sunday morning but when he called the airport to confirm the flight he was told it would not arrive until 5:15 PM. Since our plane was so late, this seemed reasonable. Apparently the airport personnel were confused because Scott and Jack arrived right on time and there was no one to meet them! Through an amazing set of circumstances they found their way to us. It will make a good story, but we felt really bad!

Today Isabelle and I taught a lecture day on wheelchair seating for function at the Hashemite University in Zarqa. The workshop was co-sponsored by the university and the Jordanian Occupational Therapy Society and was attended by about 50 OTs, PTs and students. Tomorrow we will have a day of hands-on practical experience with 30 therapists; 8 children with whom we worked at Aya Centre last year will be part of the clinic where we will re-assess their needs and make wheelchair changes as needed while giving the workshop attendees opportunity to gain some skills. We are very excited to see these kids again!

The software for Word Press has been updated and I cannot seem to upload photos yet. I hope we can resolve this problem soon so that we can share some pictures of the beautiful kids we will see tomorrow.

Until later,

Tamara

Rick, Arwen and I have spent a wonderful week in Montreal at the Biennial Conference of the International Society for Alternative and Augmentative Communication (ISAAC). We gave two presentations, attended many educational workshops, made numerous new contacts and renewed relationships with friends and colleagues from several countries.

Tomorrow bright and early we leave for Amman, and owing to the time difference we will land shortly after 5 AM on Saturday morning. It will be exciting to see what the next two weeks will bring, on our first trip to focus on follow-up, education and exposing non-speaking individuals to alternative and augmentative communication options.

Tamara

Hello readers,

You may have noticed that our blog was recently hacked with ads and links to spam websites. I have taken steps to correct the problem and am in touch with Wordpress consultants to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

In other news, Rick, Tamara, and Arwen are currently at the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) Conference in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are giving two presentations, one about developing a communication system for Eleanore and another about seating and positioning.

Following ISAAC, they will fly to Amman, Jordan to begin the 2008 Eleanore’s Project expedition there. This is a unique trip because they will only see children who have received wheelchairs before - the team’s whole focus will be on adjusting the chairs and evaluating how well they meet the recipients’ needs.

The team will blog here periodically throughout the expedition as time and internet access allow.

As always, we love comments, and messages directed toward our volunteer team members always reach them.

Out for now -

Julian

Yesterday was our last day to work as a full team. Later today 7 of us leave for Lima to fly home tonight. Richard and the St. Kate’s OT group remain in Cusco for a few more days, to see the sights and help out at Equip KIDS.

Our work time here was cut short by the late arrival of our shipment, so we have been seeing the most complex children and those from outside Cusco. It has made for some long work days - Saturday some of us finished at 10 PM. However we had a great Sunday off, with bright sunshine and no rain and thoroughly enjoyed resting and visiting with Jorge and Sandra. Several of us went to church for the Palm Sunday liturgy at the cathedral - 2000 people crammed in, standing only. It was an unforgettable experience - see us with our “palmitas” below.

On our final day many kids stood out, but I will share the stories of three. First, Juan Tomas - a 19 year old young man who was hit by a bus 2 years ago and lives in Cusco. I had hoped to see him last August when we were here for the AAC conference, but time and energy ran out. Juan arrived at 9:30 am and left at 4:30 pm looking great in a chair that was basically rebuilt for him, thanks to the efforts of Sammie, Becca and Christine (who also celebrated her birthday yesterday!). See before and after pictures below.

Marisol (7) and Silvana (9) traveled 5 hours from Ayavari to receive their wheelchairs. They are inseparable friends - Marisol is an incredible acrobat with a very strong upper body. She had an old wheelchair that she did not use because crawling was faster. Silvana had never had a wheelchair. Knowing how active these girls were, and that Marisol would not use a chair unless it was fast, we set about transforming two pediatric wheelchairs into the most sporty models possible! When they were completed we held a little wheelchair skills class to begin teaching them to pop wheelies safely. This skill will allow them to negotiate rougher terrain in their home village. Since there is no follow-up in the village the plan was to teach the mothers of Silvana and Marisol how to help them practice and learn this skill. But no worries - these fast learners picked up on the idea quicker than we expected and within 15 minutes they were popping wheelies around the room with big smiles on their faces! Silvana’s mother told us her daughter can now join in school activities and processions, a very big thing in their community. We can only imagine how Marisol and Silvana will shake up their village on wheels!

This is our last post from Peru as we prepare to leave for home tonight. It has been a wonderful trip with a number of significant accomplishments that we had not expected and as always, it is hard to say goodbye to our friends. Many thanks to all of you who have supported us!

Tamara

Hola! Julian here. After our whirlwind days of work in Lima, the team all left for Cusco. We rose at the bright and early hour of 4:30 a.m. so that we’d be at the airport in time for a 6:50 a.m. flight. Despite some minor fiascos with people’s reservations, all of us arrived in Cusco by about 1 p.m. It was our first day of rest after 5 days of hard work, and I think all of us needed the break! Sadly, only 15 of us came to Cusco - one our team members came down with a nasty cold, and the high altitude in Cusco is the last thing to help that. She made arrangements to come home instead.

Today is the first day of work here, and it’s been wonderful to see our friends Jorge and Sandra again! They work for Equip KIDS International and recently acquired a house with offices for the program. We have been working in the new house today, and although space is tight, we’ve been very productive. It’s been raining off and on all day - apparently, yesterday’s clear and sunny weather was an oddity, as it’s been raining every day in Cusco for the past few weeks. Still, the area is full of life - the valley is lush and exploding with green, and the flowers are spectacular.

Today’s photo comes to you courtesy of our veteran team member Laura, who has been snapping photos whenever she can escape the sewing machine. The little girl is Miriam, and she and her mother are waiting for the rest of their group from Sicuani to be finished. Most of our children today came to us from Sicuani, which is a small village about 4 hours from Cusco. They left home at 4 a.m. to be here with us today! The children are so beautiful, and the families are so patient. I’m constantly astounded by their grace and dignity as they wait for us to be ready or to make special parts for the chairs. The way Miriam’s mother is carrying her on the back is typical of this area - especially for children with special needs. We have seen kids as old as 10 years being carried by their mothers because they had no other option. The strength these women possess is a wonder. Here’s the photo:

I’m going to sign off on this missive for now - there are more kiddos to check out and hopefully we’ll have supper soon.

We love comments on this blog! Please, do feel free to send us messages. I (Julian) check through the comments and always pass on special notes. Ciao!

P.S. Laura says “Hi” to Shawna H. and thanks her for leaving a message!