150 chapter 16
LEARNING TO MOVE AND TO SMILE—the story of Teresa
Teresa has had juvenile arthritis since age 7. When her mother first brought her to
PROJIMO from a distant village at age 14, her body had stiffened into the shape of a
chair. Her eyes were the only parts of her body she could move. Her joints hurt her so
much that she spent every night crying. Years before, a doctor had prescribed aspirin for
her pain. But the aspirin began to give her severe stomach pain, so she stopped taking it.
Once Teresa was a cheerful, active little girl. She had completed 3 years of school. Now
she was sad and felt hopeless. She would cry out with pain each morning when her father
carefully lifted her out of bed and sat her in a chair. She rarely spoke and never smiled.
When Teresa arrived at PROJIMO she had severe contractures of her wrists, fingers,
elbows, hips, knees, ankles, and feet. The rehabilitation team had her start using aspirin
again, but with care that she take it with meals, lots of water, and an antacid. They then
began a long, slow process of therapy, part of which we show in the following photos.
To help correct her wrist contractures,
visiting therapists made these splints
for her out of costly plastic.
However, to the therapists’ surprise, they found out
that these low-cost splints made by villagers from a
plastic bucket worked better (see p. 551).
They also made leg
splints out of plastic
buckets and strips of
rubber tire tube.
Every day the team spent several hours with
Teresa, gently doing range-of-motion,
stretching, and strengthening exercises. Here
a visiting physical therapist teaches a village
worker how to help Teresa increase
movement in her stiff neck and back.
When Teresa could move her joints some, the team made
her an adjustable walker. It had shoulder supports and a
saddle seat that could be raised as her legs straightened.
She learned to walk by pushing herself backward. This
strengthened the muscles that straighten her legs.
Teresa was improving steadily. She began to talk, smile, and to take interest in things. An
older brother came to visit for a few weeks. He learned about her exercises and therapy so
he could help her when they returned to their village.
Disabled village Children