Disability Conference: Enfrentando la Discapacidad con Optimismo

The conference: Enfrentando la Discapacidad con Optimismo, held in Guayaquil, Ecuador on June 17th was a first for the country of Ecuador, where the Office of the Perfectura of Guayas and a Non-Profit Organization worked together to bring the conversation of attitudinal awareness and treatment with respect and dignity of persons with disabilities into the forefront.

How Inclusion of this population benefits all sectors of society. This began with a conversation by the founders of CCI and the Vice Prefecta, Luzmila Nicolaide, during their encounter in the month of January and they both said “let’s do it” let’s have this conference where mayors, civil society and persons with disabilities come together and learn how to work together to develop laws, work on accessibility issues, develop programs and ideas where everyone can benefit.

“Today came together where this had not been possible before.” –Zully, founder of CCI.

Everyone traveled many distances to attend this conference, as the Province of Guayas is the largest Province in Ecuador. The 225+ attendees were able to learn about Universal Design, the importance of community involvement in the social inclusion, what Occupational Therapy is and the development of orthesis and prostheses for children and adults so that they may be productive members of society.

The response from everyone about the conference was “this is fantastic.”