Christie and Sam get "orientated" to the local culture.

Sam and Christie were the quintessential perfect students to begin this new aspect of our program. They were eager, open, flexible, and giving. Their cultural immersion provided an introduction to Ecuador, the culture, and the CITTI Project program.    

Here is an account of their expereinces in their own words:            

 A Cultural Exchange Experience    

My name is Sam Smith and I am a student at Husson University. I am studying to be an Occupational Therapist. I live in a small town in Maine and have never traveled outside of the United States before. These two factors combine to give someone in my position, a distinctive lack of culture experience. For this reason, I decided to come to Ecuador with the CITTI Project. This experience has forever changed me.    

Sam makes a splint for Santiago in Huamblo.

 OMG… I woke up in Ecuador!    

I am convinced that there are not enough words in the English, Spanish, and Kechwa languages combined to describe this amazing experience. As a first time traveler, there was a LOT of anxiety, fear and concern about leaving my small town in Maine to travel to South America! And what did I have to offer the CITTI Project? Well… the CITTI family brought my anxiety levels down and I soon found that I was having the time of my life!       

Christie (right) shares her classroom strategies in Huambalo.

 I discovered that the CITTI Project goes beyond the OT/PT realm (which I have limited knowledge of) and extends into my educational background as well – which is child development. I soon discovered that I had lots to offer to the team and to the people who were gracious enough to let us into their homes, school, and work life.     

This experience has been full of learning, growing, tears and lots of laughter!!  I will forever carry in my heart all the wonderful CITTI Project folks and all the people that I have been honored to work with in Ecuador.     

I encourage anyone who has an interest in enhancing the life of others while having a life-enriching experience – to travel with the CITTI Project.  When you get the opportunity to see the Ecuadorean people’s faces light up with joy, there won’t be any other feeling in the world that can top that!     

Oh… and By the way… OMG! So I woke up and I was in Ecuador…     

Peace & Blessings for whatever path you travel,     

Christie L. Hesseltine-Whitten     

B.S. – Mental Health/Human Services     

Nursing Student

   – Dr. Koichi Kawana, Architect

 What do CITTI Project members bring to share with communities in Ecuador?

We bring our collective knowledge, our willingness to collaborate and our imagination – in order to create adaptations from what we find in local markets. The goal is to make replicable & sustainable materials for daily living aides, curriculum and communication strategies for individuals with disabilities. Our collective knowledge comes from many fields -Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation, Nursing, Assistive Technology, and Special Education.

We have a CITTI Project riddle for you….

What do you get when you take empty shoe boxes… plastic cups… popsicle sticks… Fava beans… Choclo… color markers… and a few cutouts here & there? You get a wide variety of inexpensive curriculum materials that can be used to support language and learning.

Shoebox activities with a coresponding eye gaze communication board

What else do we find in Ecuador to create materials that enable individuals greater access at home, school and work? Well…. Here’s just a few of the invaluable adaptation tools that we utilize.

Raw materials for creating adaptations

Laminas are sheets of pictures that you can buy in most stationary stores throughout Ecuador for ten cents a sheet. They cover various categories – animals, vegetables, fruits, Ecuadorian History, transportation, and basic school activities such as colors, letters, numbers and many more items. Laminas work well for activities such as sorting & matching. They are also a quick and easy way to make communication boards – with both icons and text support.

Communication boards with "Lamina" icons

File Folder activities are another big hit – as they are inexpensive, versatile and portable. Many curriculum areas can be addressed through fun file folder tasks. Add an envelope on the back to store pictures and words – and you have an arsenal of activities on the go!

File folder activity for Categorizing

Picture Schedule

No Laminating machines? No Problem!!  We found that the wide rolls of clear plastic tape were the perfect solution to our lack of lamination.

And speaking of tape… Duct tape is as valuable here as it is in Estados Unidos (U.S). Pair duct tape with cardboard and you can create slant boards and handle grips for markers, spoons, hairbrushes and more!

Cardboard slant board for reading

 Schrunchies and hair ties are good for pony tails and braids, but we have also pressed them into service for built-up handle grips, splints, and for closing off rice-filled sensory socks.

Hair tie and carboard grip

And let’s not forget the all important shoelaces… They’re good for everything… even for tying up our blog entry!!

    Maggie y Mimi

It´s the people who generously and passionately donate their talent year after year as CITTI Project Volunteers.    

CITTI Project Team (July 17 to July 30)

It´s the people who warmly greet us where they live and enfold us into their family.       

Playing dress up at Indi-Wasi, an indigenous community in Salasaca.

Francisco at Indi-Wasi,, Salasaca, honored us with a ritual high on a sacred mountain top. None of us were the same when we came back down the path of the Incas.

It´s the people in their own communities, shining the way for us to follow their lead.     

Bridgett and Alfanso Morales President of ASOPLEJICAT – Ambato´s Independent Living Center

It´s the people who bring their passion, translating our message, sharing their culture.    

Paola, Gladys, and Adam - our incredible Ecuadorian Team

It´s the people who don´t hold back their excitement and love for life´s simple pleasures.    

Bridgett and the Children of Huambalo

It´s the people who share our hunger to learn more about the beautiful culture of Ecuador  

The CITTI Project Team (July 30 to August 6) - enjoying our cultural immersion

It´s nearly impossible to express it all.  But I know for myself, beyond the sights of this beautiful country , the drive to share and learn, the pleasures of the food and culture, and the camaraderie with our team ….. it´s the people who keep me coming back.    

Con abrazos,  

Bridgett

Hope you enjoy it and feel the pride!

CITTI on TV     (please be patient while this link slowly uploads from Ecuador)

Chaya Spector and Diane Dew are an invaluable duo, capturing images of our CITTI Project Journey 2010.  While we are amused when they document the moments of fun and play, we are especially grateful when they capture the essense of our bonding, the spirit of the people, and the pride in our collective work.  

Thanks Chaya and Diane for sharing your special talents with the CITTI Project.  Your contributions allow us to share memories, document our work, and develop our Visual Guides. Couldn’t do it without you!

Diane and Chaya - photojournalists for the CITTI Project

I came with CITTI again this year, as before, largely motivated by feeling a need to do something to make a difference in our world. That need and more have been met – through many gifts, lessons, and a renewed sense of humility – for the CITTI Project and for me as a part of it.   

… the gift of community in being, sharing and working with an amazingly talented and dedicated group of my colleagues and friends – the CITTI community – the CITTI family – which has evolved into a cohesive group with an easy and competent flexibility, turning challenges into opportunities, and collaborating as peers with the diverse communities of the Cuenca and Ibarra regions.   

… the lesson yet again that things are not always what we might expect or what they seem – but often much more and much better, as the teachers we met shared with us their skills, their wealth of adaptations and strategies, and their hopes for the future.   

… the humility that comes of being and working with those doing great things with limited resources.   

… the gift of joy in participating in others’ accomplishments, such as supporting and participating as Isaac took his first independent bite of food – chocolate from his new tenedor – a wooden stick, foam, duct tape and Susie’s hairclip … his success,

Independence

his mother’s pride,

Pride

Joy

… the lesson that in real sharing and collaboration – when everyone gives, everyone receives much more.

… the humility, and honor, of being invited into the lives and spaces of indigenous Ecuadorians to work, share and learn together.   

Studying the Visual Guide

… the gift of a renewed and peaceful sense of ourselves as CITTI, and of each as ourselves – of one’s reason for being, of where one fits in this vast universe and a bit of the why.   

… and very timely and appropriately, the gift of humility at Cochasqui yesterday, as we stood at over 10,000’ on one of the pyramids near the 1500 year old astronomical observatory of the pre-Incan culture Quitu-Cara – taking in their 280 degree view of the hundreds of square miles of the Andes spread before us – at once both together and as ourselves, acutely aware of our smallness in space and time – but also our power in the here and now – standing on top of the world.   

On top of the world

 This afternoon, before I leave for home in the morning, some are off to experience Teleferico Quito – the vista from the 12,150’ summit of Cruz Loma, of the more than 14 peaks of the Andes Avenue of the Volcanoes – to feel once again, as in many years to come I’m sure, on top of the world.  

 For me it’s a grounding – a fit – a oneness – a wholeness – with my CITTI friends – with these beautiful people in this beautiful country – our families, all humanity – the universe – together – on top of the world.   

Thanks for the sharing and the love …   

- contributed by Chaya Spector and Mimi Deegan

Using a picture to identify the animal in the book

Sequencing a story with pictures copied from the book

Pointing to a picture to answer the question, What is your favorite animal

Momma shows off communication board and eye gaze board she made.

Her son chooses his favorite food from communication board

Contributed by Stacy Springer

In Ecuador as my 4^th trip with the CITTI Project you would think, or rather expect that I would know by now not to have expectations.  Or rather I should probably even let go of that, and just expect that I will expect, and be so pleasantly reminded that I shouldn’t. 

For the Visual Guide, we first planned on combining communication and education into one edition.   Several conference calls and meetings later we decided that would be too much, that we should separate the two due to the complexity of both topics. 

After arriving in Cuenca and planning and strategizing as a team for several days, we came back  to agreeing to combine the two topics, communication and education into one guide.  However, the way in which we would accomplish that would be in a very different and new way.  What we might call, an emergent and evolving design. 

In preparing for Paute, we decided and I specifically reinforced that we would not create hand splints since we were focusing on the areas of communication and education as well as the time constraints we were under.  The first day in Paute, Sonia came up to me and said, ‘there’s this mother who wants something for her son’s hand and wrist.’  Again, I said no, that we weren’t making splints, but to refer them to our first edition of the Visual Guide that showed step-by-step how to make one.  Minutes later, I saw the mother with her son, Elvis,  slung on her back with cloth and she just stared at me without saying a word pleaded for help for her son.  Moments later, Sonia, Russ, Maggie, and I were fabricating a splint.  After several versions, I asked Sonia to ask the mother if she was happy with it, if it was what she had expected.  The initial translation was “no”, and I immediately jumped in thought  ‘oh gosh, this isn’t what she wanted, we misunderstood her…’.  She continued and said, ‘I never imagined you could make (my son) a splint with these materials.  It’s much more than I imagined.’

The second day in Paute, when the teachers and therapists were joined by the parents and children, we started the day by having tables covered with the various adaptations.  However, Bridgett asked the teachers and therapists to demonstrate the adaptations to the parents, as opposed to us.  We thought and expected that they would be tentative and unsure, not knowing how that would go.  Before Bridgett’s request could be fully translated, the teachers and therapists had jumped up out of their seats and rushed to the tables to begin enthusiastically explaining and demonstrating to the parents and community members not only the adaptations that they had brought,  but ours as well.  The shift had occurred in empowerment and we all stood back, welled up with tears and emotion shocked by what was taking place. 

Traveling to our second location, in Ibarra, we broke up into groups for discussion and found that these were not teachers and therapists by majority, but rather home health workers, case managers, and early interventionists.  This was not what we had expected, not in target audience or in the age of children they served (0-5 years versus primary grades).  All of us in one way or another, after the first day were slightly concerned and lots of questions: are our materials appropriate; is our demonstration relevant; will they want to make adaptations the next day; do they understand our mission as opposed to thinking we are providing a clinic?

Our expectations of what the next day would bring were that we could be missing the mark, but that we would make the best of it.  We discussed with each other that we wouldn’t probably use as much of the materials as expected, that we weren’t sure if they would make or want to create communication, education, and access adaptations.  And once again, we were taught a valuable lesson in expectations. 

The home health workers, case managers came and they came with their examples, they demonstrated to the parents and they took ownership not only of their materials but of the ours as well.  We used up all materials, and all 90 participants were engaged and yearning for more. 

David, a young boy with quadriplegia, came with his mother and eagerly trialed the head wand fabricated with a hat.  During the demonstration, we learned that he was used to a mouth stick and was very functional and successful with it for writing, drawing, and painting, however he tired easily.  David was immediately successful with the head wand, using it to turn pages of an adapted book and once attached with a marker he wrote his name and drew a picture on a slant board.  

During the making portion of our workshop, I helped David’s family fabricate a head wand for him.  His mother explained that the one in the demonstration was too long, and he needed a shorter one.  David chose which hat he wanted and his mother and father assisted with attaching a paintbrush with duct tape to the hat.  Once finished, we got the slant board that his brother made along with one of the books adapted with page fluffers so David could try out the head wand.  I was excitedly anticipating his use of the head wand to turn the pages of the book independently.  With everyone standing by, David turned the page of the book, but was more interested in using the head wand to track the words on the page for reading.  He was more interested  about reading the book and using the head wand to track each word and sentence than he was to turn the pages.  As we all stood by listening to David beautifully read the entire book aloud, turning the pages and all, our expectations were again turned upside down. 

As I reflect on my expectations of the people, the workshops, the project and our time in Ecuador, I reflect on the multitude of lessons in expectations.  Being students of another culture, supporting communities and people with disabilities, it’s a humbling experience to try to put your expectations aside, realizing that what will be is so much greater than our minds can ever foresee.

Contributed by Maggie Morales, Mimi Deegan, Diane Dew

Aaptation #1 - was not so successful for Edgar...

Adaptation #2... Not great, but getting warmer!

Adaptation #3 - Third time's a Charm!!

Papa's look of Joy!

Success!

Contributed by Sonia Thacher

Those of us in the special education field have a solid reputation as givers.  We spend our nights and weekends poring over IEPs and curriculum guides, doing our best to plan for each of our many students with the care often given to one classroom as a whole.  We are thought of as endless givers of patience, slowly inching our charges forward to the most incremental and crucial successes.  We give so often out of our own pocketbooks, scrambing to beg buy or steal the materials we need for the specialized cases we have.

On Wednesday, I caught a little, perfect glimpse of how far this giving goes at times, and saw in it a symbol of the work that the CITTI Project does.  Our focus for this round of workshops was curricular strategies and assisted communication: we would be showing the completed visual guide on daily living aids, and working with participants to make some of the simpler tools, but we had intentionally not purchased a slew of materials for hand splints and other more labor-intensive devices.  These, we assumed, would not be made in Paute… That is… until we met Elvis – a charming four year old boy dangling in a blanket sling off his young mother’s shoulder.  Quietly,   she asked for something that could help him straighten his wrist and uncurl his fingers.   Stacey, of course, knew of just the thing.

The visual guide instructions for a hand splint involved a swatch of denim, sheets of foam, a handful of string and popsicle sticks–simple enough materials, but at that point, beyond our reach.   Measurements were taken, cardboard was sliced, Elvis’ small,  tightly curled fingers gently slid in and out of the cuff as Stacey built it.   

First major obstacle: how to tie a splint without, um, anything that ties things.  A hairband was sacrificed from the universal cuff table.  Carefully, Maggie snipped it lengthwise to make it narrow enough to pass through the holes: the fabric puffed and frayed against the scissors.   Our heroines pressed on, and soon, Elvis was wearing a very jerry-rigged,  but functional splint.

Check in time:  I facilitated a conversation between mom, Stacey, and Maggie.  Mom seemed both grateful and exceedingly bemused, so one of our first questions was, “was this what you were expecting?”  The answer was given quietly, as though she feared offending us.  ”No.  Never in my life.”  She looked from us, to her child, to the splint, and I found myself wincing a little at the look of the elastic straps, dangling raggedly from the cardboard holes.  It had been the best we could give at the time, but I worried that it wasn’t enough.

Something called me away, and then something else:  the next time I saw Elvis and his mother, I noticed three significant changes.  One, a distinct decrease in mom’s uncertainty.  Two, Elvis’s arm wrapped in a very handsome, professional-looking splint, laced up neatly with thin blue cord.  Three, Russ’s left sneaker, missing a shoelace. 

Custom Splint

Last week, before the project began, I was talking to another traveler about the work I’d soon be doing, and he asked me what seemed like the strangest question.  “How does it make you feel?”  I think he expected the basic answer, that we volunteer to help others to feel good about ourselves.   That we give people things to show how much we have.

I’ve never seen what we do in fundamentally that way.  To me, Citti Project serves a basic obligation I have: to take the surfeit of resources I have as a highly trained American professional, and put just a handful of them where they ought to be.   So many of the ideas we share just haven’t made their way far enough beyond  English: we are trying to even that out in a way that transcends the barriers of language.  So much of our work here involves taking the simplest and most temporary things and moving them around, just a little.  A way of giving that is less about sacrifice and more, ultimately, about simple equality.

I felt that quite keenly as I watched the drama of the hand split unfold.  And I was proud of all of us, for doing the best we could with what was given to everyone around us.  A shoelace here, a guide book there.  Things getting to the places that need to have those things.