The chair project started back in February when I got the
idea to see if I could find a Haitian Chair Maker to make an adapted version of
the chairs that they currently make. Presidue & Nahum contacted their Chair
friend who came & through them explained what I was looking for. The guy
brought a chair back a week later. It was pretty good for the first attempt
EXCEPT one minor detail that it would not stand on its own (which was my fault
because I asked him to make the back legs ½ inch shorter so that the chairs
would be at a slant)… He said that he had an idea of how to improve the chair
& would bring another version back in a week. Life got busy and 2.5 weeks
later I realized I still had not heard from him. Presidue contacted the chair
guy and found out that he no longer wanted to do it. Around this time is when I
got sick.
I was truly blessed that Molly my ST intern decided to take
over this project for me while I was out of country. We wanted to get each of
the severe & profound children chairs for multiple reasons but 2 of the
main reasons were to increase positioning so they were not laying all the time
and to increase positioning during eating to decrease aspiration. She worked
with 3 different Haitian chair guys prior to finding one to make the chairs.
She also raised enough $ to get chairs for all the outreach families as well.
It was truly AMAZING to get back to Haiti and see all the
children being fed in chairs and sitting up during afternoon birdcage time. One
problem with the chair though was that many of the children needed extra
support so they did not fall out of the chairs. When I first got back we were
using small boppy pillows shoved in the front of the chair which worked for not
sliding out the front of the chair onto the floor but did not help with the
children who needed extra neck support or chest support from hanging off the
side of the chair.
The last week God gave me the creative idea to adapt the
chair using ductape and old foam floor mats to custom fit the chairs to each of
the children. It was time consuming BUT so worth it!!! The chairs now have a
therapeutic aspect to them in that they help stretch some kids, help hold other
in proper body alignment and the fact that they are sitting up with help their
lungs & other organs. It makes me so happy to see the kids sitting up!!!!!
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