Mobility
National Art Honor Society of Milken Community High School Participates in Global Crutch Project
January 20, 2011
Rachel Bornstein, President of the National Art Honor Society at Milken Community High School, wrote, "I, along with Kelly Malka, am Senior President of the National Art Honor Society, which is a national organization that promotes art awareness and recognizes outstanding artistic ability."
"There are chapters of NAHS all over the country, and Milken Community High School has its own chapter with about 20 members. While we would like to make an artistic statement on our high school campus, NAHS also does quite a lot of social outreach projects in which we are able to combine our love of art with helping our greater community; this is why we were so excited to discover the International Institute of SPORT."
"My teacher, Ms. Kulwin, sent me an article this past summer about the Global Crutch Project, and I immediately wanted to get NAHS involved. I had previously been in touch with Theresa Mosely who gave me details about getting crutches and how to decorate them. Essentially, we then purchased crutches online, and each member of our chapter of NAHS decorated one side (either the front or the back) of a crutch with Sharpie permanent markers, making them as colorful and decorative as possible. "
"We were told that the disabled who will be receiving our crutches are going to decorate the other sides, so we left one side blank in hopes of a collaborative effort."
"If I can speak for our whole chapter, we have really enjoyed fusing our love of art with doing something to help our community. It was a unique project that was a little 'out-of-the-box' for us, and we were so happy to be apart of it, knowing that our efforts will be helping to make a difference."
Haitians Need Crutches
February 3, 2010
He wrote, "Talked to a volunteer nurse from Louisana who told me this lady has a baby to nurse at home but cannot leave because of no crutches. The entire ward could be discharged if there were cruches. We need crutches and now!"
Crutch Distribution in Haiti
November 2009
During his November 2009 trip to Port-au-Prince and Jacmel, Haitii, Dr. Fred Sorrells, took a shipment of crutches for distribution among physically challenged people of Haiti.
Under our direction, American children collect and decorate one side of crutches to promote disability awareness and assist the millions of disabled in the emerging nations.
On right, children display crutches they painted for delivery to people with disabilities in Haiti. Texas children from Burnet, Marble Falls, Lorena, , Garland and Dallas have participated in crutch painting.
Once delivered to an emerging nation, local able-bodied children decorate the other side of the crutch and deliver them to the disabled in their society.
On left, local children in the the Haitian city of Jacmel decorated the crutches and then distributed them to physically challenged in the local disabled population.
On right, able-bodied Haitian children display colorfully painted crutches which are now ready to distribute to people with disabilities.
The World Health Organization estimates that 10-15% of the Hatian population is disabled.
On left, a Haitian boy gives newly painted aluminum crutches to a Haitian amputee.
People with disabilities in Haiti are often scorned and viewed as cursed by God, but this young man's attitude towards people with disabilities has been changed.
On right, the amputee joyfully walks the streets of Jacmel on a her pair of new crutches - colorfully decorated by American and Haitian children and given by Haitian children.