New & Improved Stroller for Vulnerable Children

Life has been pretty intense for Bob and me in the last few weeks. I’ll tell my story first and we will publish Bob’s story when we are finally together again.

I have been pretty nervous over the last month and a half over the status of the stroller project, my principle objective of this visit to Colombia. We have been working on a new, improved design of our stroller with assistance from Tony Persaud of Dynamic Health Care Solutions (Canada) and Andres Silva, Colombian mechanical engineer, who created the design of the chair. In a nutshell, we want a product that is similar to a Canadian product but produced in Colombia. Our short timeline was made very difficult when the company, who was to cut out the metal parts, went on strike. Despite various pitfalls the project was successfully concluded thanks to people who stepped in when needed. Thank you!

I made cushion templates for various sizes and cut out the foam pieces while in Calgary and then glued them together in Asodispie in Piedecuesta. Our objective is to make a postural cushion that will help a child maintain a good sitting position, thus the weird appearance of the layers. The final product without the cover is pictured on the right.

Carmen sewed the seat cushion covers as well as covers for the back rests and head rests, and the safety belts & straps. Carmen is part of the Cooperative established by Asodispie, which cannot function until the building (featured in a previous blog) is finished. It is my hope that the cooperative can make the entire cushion next year.

While waiting for the metal parts to arrive Jorge, Asodispie’s technician, was busy constructing the stroller frames and having them painted. This picture shows a metal back that Jorge will now attach to the frame with a structural strut that he has created.

This is Cheri, a stroller recipient. She is very comfortably seated, so much so that she promptly fell asleep. The picture of her back shows the various adjustable components featured in the new design – a great advantage to the child’s posture and comfort.

Jose Alfredo started to laugh and clap with his first fitting. He had a wronged look on his face when we took him out to make adjustments as if he was thinking that maybe it wasn’t for him after all. His mother, posing with him in the picture on the left, travels 1.5 hours one way three times a week to bring him to therapy. Talk about dedication!

Lastly, we have Carlos who is also living with a foster family. Carlos lives in an urban neighbourhood. Seeing our stroller was designed for the rugged conditions of rural areas, our next challenge is to adapt the improvements we have made to the chair to a typical wheelchair design that is more appropriate for the city. Two more foster children living in the Monteria municipality have already been evaluated and are on the waiting list for next year.

CAPD would like to thank the Rotary Club Rhonda del SINU for their dedication to helping vulnerable children in their district as well as ASODISPIE, our partner in Piedecuesta, for administrating the construction and delivery of the strollers. Marlene