Thursday was a long and intense, mostly, day. I got to take a long walk in the neighborhood surrounding the hotel after a 5:30 AM breakfast. It felt good. This city, at least the district around the hotel, is bustling at 6 AM!
Ines and I went to the ICBF to do a presentation. I did a presentation on the CRPD and in particular its implications for how services and supports are delivered to the ICBF (https://www.icbf.gov.co/icbf/directorio/portel/libreria/php/03..html) the government ministry that does social protection and services for families, ranging from adoption to disability. The presentation was coordinated by a young social worker who had been in a presentation on Tuesday, and was to be to a dozen or so officials. It ended up being over 50 people in an auditorium, with simultaneous translation (everyone wears a headset), and lasted for about ninety minutes, with questions. The translator was a young Colombian man, who lived as a child in Logan Utah where his father completed his PhD at Utah State University. So when the questions came, his English was perfect. Made it easy to answer some challenging questions. This agency has perhaps the most things to change, and many of their practices are in direct conflict with CRPD. They are also following national law, so practices will change, some within current law, some after the law changes. Susanna Helfer-Vogel, from the Ministry of Social Protection, worked at both PAHO and the World Bank in DC and stayed for the presentation, and asked good questions. A lot of questions about the process of deinstitutionalization and some about child abuse, adoption (thank you Rachel for the dinner table tutorials over the years on that topic) and people with serious and persistent mental illness and community services. It was intense but productive I hope.
After a wonderful meal of traditional Colombian dishes (thanks Ines for ordering) we walked, on a beautiful day to Fundacion Saldarriaga Concha, set up by a business man in honor of the memory of his son with Cerebral Palsy who died as a young adult. This organization has influence and assets, and funds services and programs for people with disabilities. Carolina Cuevas and her mostly young staff and a board member heard the same presentation, and asked a lot of good questions about families, the process of inclusion, and how to move Colombia forward given their role and resources. They have a lot to contribute, and will also need to change a great deal of what they have been doing. It remains to be seen if they choose that leadership role.
Finally, a dinner meeting with the Network of Families for Change, a coalition of family groups from across the country. Relaxed conversation, some stories about successful inclusion efforts that prove both the theory and substantiate the efforts people put into social and school inclusion, and just plain relaxation. As is almost always the case, families will lead the charge for change, and there are enough of them in this network, with the passion and the willingness to work for it, that I feel good that change will occur.
A long day but went to bed with some hope that this prosperous hardworking nation can move forward on including people with disabilities int he fabric of Colombian society.
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