From physical disability and sadness to hope and autonomy

This story narrates the experience of working with a group of people of different ages and conditions, survivors of the great tragedy of Armero, Colombia, in 1985, which claimed more than 20,000 lives and completely destroyed the city. These survivors were treated with a Comprehensive Rehabilitation Model at the TELETON National Rehabilitation Center, then located on the outskirts of Bogota, Colombia. The work with these people was carried out by an interdisciplinary team of health professionals, among them the one who wrote this text, Ximena Combariza E., a psychologist from that institution at that time and currently a volunteer for GFSC. The objective was to help them process the mourning for the various losses experienced and to develop their physical, emotional and social resources to the maximum, to reduce the impact of the losses and to be able to resume their lives with the greatest possible autonomy. The results? Definitely very positive!

Read more about this intervention and its results here