Video about Piña Palmera

I talked to Flavia, the director of Piña Palmera for the first time since coming to Oaxaca the other day, and I she offered me a hand in finding a place to stay for the duration of my production phase! All my interactions with PP thus far have been very rewarding and productive, both regarding this project and even before, when I was just a visitor to the beach.

I found this promo video about Piña Palmera on YouTube (okok, I guess it IS useful sometimes), unfortunately it´s all in Spanish but I´ve transcribed the text below.


Oaxaca has almost 4 million inhabitants, and 1 million of them go abroad to the US to work every year. 52% of the houses have dirt floor, and 79% lives in extreme misery. In this context, people with disabilities are hidden in the corners of their houses, and also the concept of community rehabilitation doesn´t exist in the communities, and their families look for miracle cures day to day. The ideology that we use, with rehabilitation based in and with the community, is taken from the World Health Organization. We are the only organization in the zone and we are designed with the conditions of Oaxaca in mind, as well as the customs of the Chatines and Zapotec communities in which we work. We are confronted with various problems: domestic violence, alcoholism, ignorance, lack of knowledge about disability, the lack of medical professionals in the communities, gender inequality, and the isolation of people with disabilities in the very communities where they live.

Piña Palmera is supported by national and international donations. We have productive workshops in making artesanías, paper-rcycling, and producing ecological products. We also have a store where we sell the products that we make. Piña Palmera follows the model of community-based rehabilitation in three of the higest-poverty municipalities in the region, which include nine communities, in which 450 people participate, more than half of which are children and young people. 20% are adults, and about 10% are seniors. We work with people with disabilities and their families, using physical therapy, speech therapy, language design, ocupational therapy, living independently, and we do this in both large and small groups. We also hold workshops for students on the national and international level in different areas of understanding and senitivity, as well as in the human rights of people with disabilities.

¨The society was invited to learn, and now, those of us with disabilities can now do all the things that we would like to- the disabilities are no longer limiting.¨ Mariano Enriquez, Special Olympics Champion, 1500 and 5000 meter dash.

All of my life, I´ve been involved with social jusctice and community issues because we´ve discovered the lack of attention to the human rights of people living in real disadvantaged situations, and in this case, people living with disabilities. My dream is the dream of everyone partciapating in our work here at Piña Palmera, the construction of a just society with a space for everyone and respect for all.