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By Ed Murphy
Our guest speaker at our regular lunch meeting on March 12th was John Bell, Co-Founder and Director of Operations for Transitions in Guatemala. The Tigard Rotary Club has provided some funding for Transitions over the past few years as part of its international services program. In fact, Rotary District 5100 has had a relationship with John Bell and the Transitions program for the past 17 years. It started when John, as a member of the Antigua Rotary Club, had set up a booth at a Project Fair, trying to find partners to help polio survivors in Antigua. District 5100 Rotarians connected with him then, and thus began a long and continuing association.
John spoke about how his journey of friendship, education and service began, way back in 1983, when he went to Antigua in the summer to study Spanish and volunteer at a hospital. He was a student at American University in Washington DC at the time, working on his Master’s Degree in Special Education. It was at the hospital that he met gunshot victim Alex Gálvez, who was dying from a paralyzing gunshot wound because he couldn’t get medical care. Returning to Washington, John utilized a network of people to obtain assistance for Alex. Alex survived, and pointed out to John that there were many more disabled people in Antigua that needed similar assistance. He and John went on to create the Transitions Foundation of Guatemala in 1996, which assists Guatemalans with disabilities. Alex is now the Executive Director of the Transitions Foundation of Guatemala, and John directs operations and donor relations. John said they use a holistic approach, in which clients are supported through health and rehabilitation, education, spiritual development, leadership, social interaction, and employment opportunities.
John described the difficult situation in Antigua, where 63% of the population is 100% Indian, who have the highest rate of birth defects and the shortest life of the general population. He showed photos of some of the work being done by Transitions. Many of those helped are people who have lost or never had arms or legs. The Wheelchair Workshop and Prosthetic & Orthotics Programs are at the forefront of the programs provided by Transitions. They make their own wheelchairs that are durable and very maneuverable, and also make prosthetic and orthotic limb. Currently, Transitions operates six different programs dedicated to improving the lives of people with disabilities: (1) Wheelchair Workshop, (2) Prosthetic & Orthotic Clinic, (3)Print Shop, (4) Special Education Classroom, (5) Educational Scholarships, and (6) Wheelchair Basketball Program. Amongst all of its programs, Transitions strives to provide jobs to people with disabilities. In fact, of the individuals Transitions employs, roughly 75 percent are persons with disabilities, who all started as participants in Transitions’ programs. John stressed that their programs are a collaboration between disabled and non disabled, one member helping another. When you work within a family setting, he says, there’s a higher accountability and respect for the work that you’re doing . . . you drive yourself to do your best.”
John said that everyone in the group is proud that they are associated with Rotary. He noted that about 18% of their budget comes from Rotary. Further, he acknowledged our District, saying that “without District 5100, we may never have been able to jumpstart the program”. Ken VanDomelen, who has been to the Transitions site on several occasions, added that he would like our Club to continue to partner with this organization, and grow our partnership. He gave credit to Chris Over, who “worked her butt off” to secure a global grant for Transitions, leveraging the small amount of funds that the Tigard Club provided into something much bigger. While important, Rotary is not their only partner. John showed photos of a new facility currently under construction, which they are building with the help of a generous donor who gave $1 million towards its creation.
You can learn much more about Transitions at their website, http://transitionsfoundation.org.
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