St. Kate's students answer Eleanore's Project calling

The World Health Organization estimates that there are 20 to 25 million people worldwide who are in need of wheelchairs, most of them living in the world's poorest countries and cut off from access to necessary care.

Chair by chair, an organization called Eleanore's Project is changing that number.

My name is Julian Kittelson-Aldred and four years ago, my family founded Eleanore's Project, Inc. in memory of my little sister who died in 2001. She was born with cerebral palsy and was a life-long wheelchair rider. She was also profoundly deaf and used American Sign Language and alternative communication methods to interact with the world.

Her death just before her twelfth birthday forced our family to reorganize and we began thinking about how best to honor her short life.

The mission statement of Eleanore's Project is, “To improve the lives of children with disabilities and their families through education and through innovative projects that have potential to produce lasting change.”

We do this by partnering with organizations which already exist in Peru that identify children who need wheelchairs.

Based on the information that our partners send, Eleanore's Project therapists decide what kind of chair is most appropriate for each child and put together a shipment of refurbished wheelchairs which are shipped to Lima, Peru. Since our first expedition in November 2004, we have made three subsequent trips to fit wheelchairs, the most recent of which took place in March 2008.

The March trip to Peru was a groundbreaking one because, for the first time, five students and one professor from St. Kate’s joined our team of therapists and wheelchair seating professionals. My mother, Tamara Kittelson-Aldred, is a 1975 graduate of the St. Kate's Occupational Therapy (OT) program and has wanted to include St. Kate’s students in the work of Eleanore’s Project.

Christine Loos, Becca Gillis, Jen Vu, Katrina Erickson, and Sarah Weiszhaar are in their second year as OT graduate students at St. Kate’s. Their professor, Kate Barrett, spent more than a year working with my mother to develop the relationship between St. Kate's and Eleanore's Project.

Barrett received a Faculty Development grant from the Center for Community Work and Learning to review the existing OT curriculum and find ways to integrate community experiences.

The Office of Global Studies at St. Kate’s worked with Barrett and Eleanore’s Project to coordinate the travel plans for the trip to Peru. As a result of the combined efforts of the OT students and the Eleanore's Project therapists and volunteers, 87 custom-fit wheelchairs were delivered to children.

The students who came on the March expedition clearly see the connection
between international experiences and academic work.

Student Sarah Weiszhaar noted, “The work we are doing [at St. Kate's] will make us well-educated occupational therapy students, the work we did in Peru will benefit our practical skills, all of which affect the community and the services we are able to provide to the members of our community.”

Becca Gillis also appreciated the variety of skills that Eleanore's Project teams have, saying “Being part of an interdisciplinary team was also helpful, as it emphasized the importance of communication, working together, and how each individual is an important piece to the puzzle.”

For the students, the work of Eleanore's Project is more than just bringing wheelchairs and mobility to the children of Peru. Getting a child comfortably, properly seated opens a host of new opportunities that would not be possible otherwise. A child who has spent the entirety of his or her life lying on a blanket in a corner can interact with the world in a whole new way.

Children who have received Eleanore's Project chairs have gained new independence when they start attending school or visiting nearby family members on their own. The differences are not just physical, they are attitudinal.

Kate Barrett said, “We were able to repeatedly see, first hand, the difference a supported seating system can make in a child's ability to support their own heads, use their arms and hands, and most importantly to interact with his or her family and environment.”

As I have continued my studies at St. Kate's, a theme has emerged for me: that of theory vs. practice, the gap that exists between what we learn and what we do. After taking several social justice oriented courses, I grew frustrated with simply reading about how to make social change and not having the resources to go out and do something about it.

That is where the work of Eleanore's Project and the Center for Community Work and Learning come in. They both offer a real, hands-on opportunity to start making a difference, whether it is by fitting a wheelchair or tutoring at-risk youth.

Working for change must be intentional. Changes do not happen over night. The writer Frederick Buechner said that “vocation happens when our deep gladness meets the world's deep need.” For me, and I think for all of the many people who volunteer for Eleanore's Project, the work we do is a calling, a vocation.