Leticia García Canedo, from Ponferrada, is a young early childhood education teacher, with a master's degree in advanced studies of language, communication and pathologies, who has participated in the Castile and León Youth Solidarity Program - 2016, of the Board of Castile and León. Within this program, Leticia has been collaborating voluntarily in October and November 2016 in the project subsidized by Juan Ciudad ONGD “Get involved in promoting the health of children with disabilities in Piura (Peru),” carried out at the San Juan de Dios Clinic in Piura, a non-profit charitable institution belonging to the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God, dedicated to the care and rehabilitation of people with disabilities.
The Hospitaller Order in Peru and the management of the clinic in Piura, led by Dante Garcés Abendaño (administrative director) and Brother Benigno Chahuillco (executive director), make it possible for young volunteers to participate in the center's activities through projects like the one Leticia participated in, funded by the Regional Government of Castile and León. Below, we share her testimony and experience:
"During my volunteering period, I had the opportunity to get involved, in addition to the activities carried out both inside and outside the Clinic, in a very interesting project to promote the health of schoolchildren in the Piura area. The project involves giving training talks to teachers at various public schools in the city.
This has stemmed from the strong demand for information about disabilities among teachers. One of the things that most caught my attention when I arrived in Piura was learning that there are families who don't send their children to school because they believe the educational methods used by teachers in the classroom are not the most appropriate for their children.
It is true that sometimes teachers don't know how to approach interventions with certain students in the classroom, and they themselves end up being the ones who, unintentionally, may discriminate against these children to some extent. Therefore, we have sought to promote the principle of an inclusive school, with real and quality inclusion.
It was very interesting to be able to begin the project, as I had already been collaborating with the clinic for a month and was already familiar with the reality of most schools in Peru. The first talk was held at a public school in the city of Piura, attended by teachers from various educational centers. It was conducted, with the support of the clinic, by one of the clinic's psychology professionals and myself, focusing on the area of speech therapy. This talk provided information about the main linguistic and psychological pathologies students may encounter in the classroom, so that they could be identified, referred to a professional, and improve the inclusion of these students in their school environment.
The talk was very interesting, as we were able to interact with the professionals from the centers and understand the challenges of their work in the Peruvian education system. It's not just a lack of information, but also obstacles due to the student-teacher ratio, lack of collaboration from families, family disorganization, and so on.
"This is undoubtedly a project that can greatly benefit the entire population of Piura, both families with school-age children and educational center professionals. I hope it continues and grows to reach more sectors of the population, increasingly including people with disabilities in all settings."
By Leticia García Canedo.
