Today we had the honor of visiting the Centro de Rehabilitacion Infantil (CRIT), which is a child physical and social integration center. The signage above describes its mission: to serve disabled children with an intentional focus on support, equality and respect by combining "love and science for life-long service." There are twenty CRIT facilities in Mexico; the CRIT in Cancun opened on November 29, 2007. We do not have anything exactly like this center in the United States. The students learned about the impressive results from their integrative approach to child care, which combines not only traditional physical and occupational therapies but also art and water activities. Maria del Carmen Viesca, subdirector of the volunteers, explained that the children learn protocols for safe living at home including learning how to maneuver movement on rocks, tiles, cement, and artificial turf in a therapeutic garden. The spiritual aspect of living a complete life is emphasized with mass every Friday. Future plans for Health Science volunteers is being developed.
May 15th is "Teachers Day" and is a national holiday to celebrate educators. There were no classes today so families took advantage of the free day to spend time together. We celebrated also by taking a ferry to Isla Mujeres where we swam and rode golf carts around the island.
We can hardly wait for tomorrow because, at last, we will begin our service project at the Casa de la Alegria. It is a facility that is responsible for disenfranchised elderly who totally depend on the government and generous volunteers to provide for their daily needs. We anticipate that tomorrow we will all learn a lot about providing volunteer service in Mexico.
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