Provide HorseTHERAPY to 50 Nicaraguan Children

Horse therapy is on lockdown for COVID because of the delta variant. The horses are being taken care of now during the rainy season. The therapists contact the parents and the children by phone and converse about the children’s needs.
During this time, they are working on the therapy arena. Fixing the ramps and preparing for when they will return with the children. Martha is the physical therapist who is assisting Gustavo in this work. She has many years of experience and used to be Gustavo’s supervisor at the regional hospital. Her new task is organizing how we can better combine horse therapy and physical therapy. The parents are excited because of the energy that she brings to the treatment plans. She wants to help prepare the children so that horse therapy mixed with physical therapy and massage can make a difference in the lives of the children. She has organized the list of children combining the two therapies. Even though we are in lockdown, we keep close contact with each child. Martha is making sure that each one is aware of what exercises they can do in this time of COVID lockdown. We continue to use the two horses at the farm, and they are being treated to a rich diet so that their athletic strength can be maintained with daily exercises.
Gustavo is studying some new techniques using the horses and preparing for the return of the children.
It was a positive move to employ Martha so that the best of both worlds can be combined better. She is also updating staff and parents on the children who are part of the program, posting information on each child so that the social team can continue to be aware of the needs of each child. This helps integrate services and keeps each section ready to serve those children better when they return. We regret that one of the children has died from complications of his disability. His mother informed us a few days ago that his health deteriorated suddenly. Still, another suffering of COVID here is that people could not attend any of the services for this young man who had brought so much joy to his family and others. The whole social staff receives an in-depth online program on children with special needs presented by the American Embassy here in Nicaragua. This has been in the planning for three years and coming while most programs are on lockdown, it gives them more time to reflect on the materials. It is a six-month course with experts from the United States presenting various ideas on treatment and styles of work with children with disabilities.

Links:

• spanish coverage of horsetherapy porgram in nicaragua

  Tuesdays are designated as special education days in our horse therapy sessions. Our special education assistant, Walter, who is blind, has motivated the mothers to become more involved in their children's therapy. On that day, the mothers take turns helping Gustavo guide the horses and learn more about the therapy. Walter works with them as they await their turn for therapy, sharing their stories of having a child with a handicap. We have found that this intervention has created a greater interest in the mothers giving them more poise in their interactions. They have developed a great respect and confidence in Walter as he helps them share more about their children's therapy. "Walter calls these sessions "horse grazing." Because it is as if the mothers are enjoying the quiet time to share and graze with each other.
Special Families have hired an additional physical therapist to help more children. The number of children who need therapy has increased with many first-time cases.
Darling, our other physical therapist, has been on maternity leave. The new therapist is the former head of physical therapy from the regional hospital.
She is excited about working in the community model instead of the medical model, which she led in the hospital setting. She is a highly skilled therapist with much experience and a deep love of helping others in rehabilitation. "Actually, this allows me to get to know the children and their mothers and to find new ways to help them reach their goals together. I like trying to get the mothers to help one another out and to find how much they have in common as they work with their children." This was never possible when she worked the medical model. She was Gustavo's boss when he started his first job, which was at the hospital. And now she is working alongside him to organize our annual Mother's Therapy Assembly. The assembly accomplishes three goals: 1. Recognition of therapy goals for each child and mother. 2. Create unity between mothers as they accompany their children with their therapy.
3. A forum for mothers and children to share their therapy experiences and give ideas for the future. The assemblies always create a lot of motivation and excitement. This year they are working on new ways to keep the COVID distancing and generate a learning atmosphere using more videos and doing more individual work with the mothers ahead of time. We are hopeful that this will create unity among the families. The majority are women heads of households. "They are becoming more interested in hearing each other's story. Since each child has different disabilities and reasons for being in horse therapy, it becomes fascinating," said Martha, the new therapist.
This is the last month of the Dry Season in Nicaragua, which is essential for horse therapy. We are trying to take advantage of this time. When the rains start, there are times that we cannot continue the horse therapy outside since we do not have a sheltered area. However, we have to move the therapy from the vast field to a well-conditioned front entrance to the Farm. The reason is that the field begins to become soggy and, at times, flooded during the rainy season.
We have a special ramp to help children mount the horses and continue their therapy in rain or shine.
The staff of integrated therapy wants to thank you for your support as they continue in these times of COVID.
Their prayers are with you in gratitude for the opportunities you give them to serve these children to reach their health and well-being goals.