| | |  News from Around Banderas Bay | November 2008 
Susan Davalos Helps Special Needs Children, the Sick and the Elderly
 Twila Crawford - PVNN
| | Susan Davalos, a nurse, is a volunteer community coordinator in the El Pitillal and the city dump area. | 
| | At a school near the Puerto Vallarta city dump even the littlest ones wash their own lunch dishes. | 
| | Pasitos de Luz offers a place for learning, enjoyment of art and music, and physical therapy to more than 50 disabled children's needs daily. | | |
Puerto Vallarta - Much admired Susan Davalos, a nurse, is a volunteer community coordinator in the El Pitillal and the city dump area. She recently took three of us with her to visit and to help out at five local organizations caring for children, adults and the elderly.
We talked with Martha Alicia Ponce at Proyecto Pitillal Busca un-Amiga, A.C., at Chihuahua 484 in Col. Bobadilla. Caring for children with severe neurological and muscular needs, the building is colorful with separate red and blue doorways. Children receive physical therapy, with soothing music in the background of the rehabilitation area. A colorful pool is available for further therapy. Twelve children participate daily, with room to grow.
A new kitchen is well-used. Plans are to build a school and establish a used clothing and furniture bazaar on the site. The bazaar would help finance some therapy programs, according to Susan.
A busy organization in the area is Pasitos de Luz. The home of the parents of Cesar and Yolanda Sanchez offers a place for learning, enjoyment of art and music, and physical therapy to more than 50 disabled children's needs daily. All care to the children is free. Susan says, "Pasitas de Luz's goal is to bring a ray of light into hopeless situations." It is a family enterprise of support.
Color and a lot of music greeted us as children were in swings and various-style seats. They were eating lunch, most children needing to be helped by an adult. With the active music, some children couldn't help but clap their hands and sing. A therapy pool is available, along with therapy rooms.
The Sanchez's have provided hope for families with children with special needs. The Sanchez's lost their disabled daughter after years of trying to get her appropriate help. Pasitos is located at Corona 545 in Col. Bobadilla. A fundraiser at Outback in Vallarta is benefiting Pasitos de Luz on November 11.
Ninety children participate in a school near the city dump. They cannot attend public school for a variety of reasons. Pastor Luis Miguel and Lupita lead the school, with some of the mothers of the children helping out with reading, math, art. The children have chores and even the littlest ones wash their own lunch dishes.
| | Jan Borden is a frequent and dedicated volunteer at the Regional Hospital. | 
| | A 94-year-old Señorina enjoys life at the Asilo de Ancianos home for the elderly. | 
| | Twelve children receive daily physical therapy in the colorful pool at Proyecto Pitillal Busca un-Amiga, A.C. |
A representative of the International Friendship Club (IFC), Yvonne Ward, filled pages on a flip board concerning needs, especially considerable work needed on the building. This organization has been active for years in helping, especially with major projects.
The Regional Hospital is well known to Susan, helping with programs and needs there. She is one of a team of volunteers to work with doctors from Guadalajara who donate their skills and time, and with the families and children concerning the Cleft Palate program. New mothers in the hospital receive layettes. Nearly 600 babies are born per month. Jan Borden who was with us is a frequent and dedicated volunteer.
Our final stop was at a home for the elderly, Asilo de Ancianos, run by DIF (social services). The facility is beautiful in a hacienda-style design. Thirty-one individuals live there, including 94-year-old Señorina, just as lively as can be with her friends there. The local government home appears to be well-administered. The address is corner of Calle 21 Marzo y Ecuador, Coapinole, behind the DIF center.
A heartfelt thank you for the dedication of Susan Davalos and others to the communities, and for the assistance of the International Friendship Club (IFC) to many programs. For further information, email Susan at pedroysusan(at)hotmail.com.
 An award-winning journalist, Twila Crawford lives in Puerto Vallarta, where, in addition to contributing articles to BanderasNews, the PV Mirror and other local publications, she writes Out and About in Puerto Vallarta, an informative column that offers inside information about who, what, why, where and when it's happening around Banderas Bay.
Click HERE to read more articles by Twila Crawford. |
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