One Mission Postponed Until a Safer Year, One Neighborhood Revitalized
Disabled children in a Mexico orphanage have been seeing a group of Hardin-Simmons University students come to their town to doctor aches, and tend to pains every year since 2003.
But this year, the students studying for their Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at Hardin-Simmons will have to stay in Abilene to conduct the annual healing mission project.
"Unrest in Mexico has changed our plans," says Dr. Janelle O'Connell, Director of the Grad Studies Program in Physical Therapy. "Americans are being targeted for abduction and murder." Says O'Connell, "The U.S. State Department warnings are so strong this year against travel to Mexico, we couldn't take that chance with our students."
Instead, the PT students will stay in Abilene to conduct similar mission work in HSU's own neighborhood.
Just north of the HSU campus, between Ambler Avenue and Interstate 20, is a neighborhood known as Northpark. Ben Milam Elementary School was central to the area for decades until it was razed in the early 1980's.
Efforts to prop up the deteriorating neighborhood began several years ago by HSU's Dean of Student's, Linda Carleton. Along with her crusade, and some HSU funding, a neighborhood gathering spot was created. The "Friendship House" started to bring neighbors closer together and a quick look around the neighborhood today indicates efforts are paying off as more and more lawns are tended and houses are painted.
In fact, that's exactly what the HSU students will be doing on the first day of their Physical Therapy Community Outreach project - painting houses, planting flower beds and doing yard work for some of the residents in the Northpark neighborhood.
But the central purpose of their mission, says O'Connell, is "to provide Christ-centered physical therapy screenings for the Northpark neighbors and other people who may be under-served, uninsured, or unemployed."
Dr. O'Connell says,"A variety of free health screenings and educational programs will be provided, all designed to increase awareness of risks and enhance functional abilities."
According to a flyer distributed across some North Abilene neighborhoods, the PT students will check vital signs like heart rate, blood pressure, balance, and grip strength. They can screen for joint flexibility, sensory perception, and do developmental assessments of children.
Peripheral vascular assessment for individuals with diabetes will include checking blood flow and inspection of feet and nails. Exercise instruction for helping with diabetes will also be provided.
Students will also conduct chair-exercise classes for senior residents and a well-baby class that discusses developmental milestones for new parents.
Money for the mission outreach program this year comes from a grant by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, which the PT department applied for two years ago. O'Connell says she asked for special permission for the grant monies to be used in Abilene this year because of the crisis situation in Mexico.
As for the physical labor the students will endure in the Northpark neighborhood, O'Connell says the students are no strangers to that. While in Mexico, they have helped to erect a dormitory at the orphanage and physically torn down dilapidated buildings brick by brick. In past years, the Hardin-Simmons students have also helped to construct a clinic and a school.
When in Mexico, O'Connell says they help the children learn basic skills like how to set up and roll over. They also teach sitting strategies to get children to sit outside of their wheelchairs. She says they once they even had to rescue a child who had been abandoned and tied to a tree in the village.
O'Connell says the students are looking forward this year to continuing revitalization efforts in the neighborhood north of the campus. Efforts get underway Sunday, April 26th with the Community Physical Therapy Screenings and Treatments program continuing through Wednesday April 29th.
Pictured: Dr. Janelle O'Connell
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