EXAMPLES OF PROGRAMS 519
4. ORGANIZATION OF DISABLED REVOLUTIONARIES—NICARAGUA
The Organization of Disabled Revolutionaries
(ORD) was started after Nicaragua’s liberation
from the Somoza dictatorship, by a group of
young persons who had become paralyzed by
spinal cord injuries. Some had been boys of
13, 14 or 15 years old when they first joined the
struggle against Somoza.
Although ORD started with wheelchairs, it
grew to become a group that represented and
stood up for the rights of all disabled people. It
pressured the Health Ministry to respond more
to the disabled and their needs. The government,
which tried to represent the people much more
than most governments, responded well. It
allowed ORD ‘time’ for short educational programs
on public radio and television. And it agreed to
help pay the cost of wheelchairs made by ORD
for families too poor to pay. ORD was in close
communication with the head of rehabilitation for
the nation. In this way, the disabled organization
had some voice in national policy making.
These are some of the advantages experienced
by a community-directed program in a country
with a revolutionary popular government. On the
other hand, ORD suffered from the embargo and
other difficulties imposed by the United States
government. At times, the wheelchair production
almost stopped for lack of metal tubing, bearings,
and other basic materials.
ORD was begun because of concern for a
common need: wheelchairs. With the increase
in disabled persons from the war, the lack of a
local wheelchair factory, and the difficulties of
importing wheelchairs due to the United States’
embargo, the shortage was severe.
Two young North Americans who both have
spinal cord injuries, one a peer counselor for the
disabled and the other a wheelchair designer and
engineer, helped ORD organize and set up a small
wheelchair factory.
ORD had a far-reaching influence. It helped
organize groups of disabled persons in other
parts of Nicaragua. Also, members have
helped conduct training workshops in Central
American and Caribbean countries to teach
representatives from other disabled groups
how to make wheelchairs.
The ORD team of disabled workers produced its
own high-quality metal tubing wheelchairs, adapted
for rough ground (see p. 622) at a cost far lower
than standard commercial wheelchairs.
disabled village children