6 chapter 1
So she broke her special toys and refused
to sit in her special seat. Her parents were
furious with her—and she loved it! She would
sit for hours with her knees together and her
legs bent back. Walking began to get more
difficult for her, so she did not walk much.
Maricela’s mother sometimes invited her to
help wash the clothes at the river. Maricela
would sit at the river’s edge with a big
‘washing rock’ between her legs. She would
wash the clothes by squeezing and beating
them against the rock—just like her mother.
Her parents then visited a small
rehabilitation center in a neighboring village.
The village team suggested that they look for
new ways to help Maricela keep her knees
apart and improve control of her arms and
hands—ways that would be exciting and
help her to develop and practice useful skills
together with the rest of her family. Here
are some of the ideas that Maricela and her
parents came up with:
When she was good (and sometimes even
if she was not) her father would let her help
shell corn with him and the other children.
Because she had trouble holding the corn and
snapping off the grain with her fingers, her
father made a special holder and scraper.
holes to let
grain drop
into basket
piece of old
saw blade
between 2
sticks
stoppers to
hold board
on basket
cut out space
with nail points
coming through
bottom, to hold
ear of corn
The basket between her legs held her
knees apart, and the shelling of the corn
strengthened her arms, gave her practice
gripping, and improved her coordination and
control.
shelling corn
(taking the
dried grain
off the cobs)
The rock kept her knees apart and the
squeezing and banging strengthened her
hands and improved her control. But what
mattered was getting the clothes clean. It
was hard work. But she found it easy—and
fun!
Coming back from
the river, Maricela just
had to walk. It was
too far to crawl. And
besides, she had to help
her mother carry back
the washed clothes.
This was hard, but she
tried hard, and could ‘
do it!
Carrying the pails
of clothes helped her
learn to walk without
bending and jerking her arms so much.
To help Maricela grip the handle of the
pail easier, her father wrapped a long strip
of old bicycle inner tube very tightly around
the handle. But when Maricela’s hand
sweated, the smooth rubber got slippery.
So her father wound a thin rope around the
rubber. This way, Maricela could hold it
better.
It was hard, important work that Maricela
found she could do. And she loved it!
Disabled village Children
As time passed she learned how to carry a
bucket of clothes on her head—then a bucket
of water. To do this took a lot of practice with
balance and control of movement. She just
had to keep her legs farther apart to keep her
balance.