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