Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, February 21, 2020 – A new multi-sensory room for children with disabilities ages 0-6 was inaugurated today at the Juarez Albergue Granja Hogar, a facility administered by the municipal Departamento Integral de la Familia de Juarez (DIF). Some of the equipment installed in the multisensory room was complements of a donation from the U.S. Northern Command’s (USNORTHCOM) Humanitarian Assistance Program.
John Tavenner, the U.S. Consul General in Ciudad Juarez, participated in the donation ceremony. Consul General Tavenner presented the municipal DIF with USNORTHCOM’s donated equipment, including a soft play corner colossus, trampolines, a rotary platform swing, a bubble tube, a stars laser light projector, a 3D laser projector, a full body massage mat, a bubble tube controller, and a set of sound steps. The donation’s total monetary value was USD $14,669.33.
Juarez Mayor Hector Armando Cabada, municipal DIF President Alejandra Cabada, and municipal DIF director Perla Maria Reyes Lopez hosted the ceremony.
“We are pleased to join the efforts of the Municipal DIF to support the work of its therapists and specialists in treating children with disabilities. The United States is committed to helping strengthen communities,” said Consul General Tavenner. And he added: “As in so many situations in life, when we work together, results are better.”
Attendees afforded a warm welcome to the ceremony’s special guests: children from Alas y Raíces, a local NGO that works to offer learning and developmental therapies to people with disabilities. The invited children had the opportunity to explore inside the multisensory room.
“I want to thank the consulate for its supportive nature and the ability to exalt the good relationship with the municipal government. You have been instrumental for us to inaugurate this important room,” said the Juarez Mayor Armando Cabada.
Municipal DIF President Alejandra Cabada highlighted how this equipment will provide her team with adequate tools for the treatment of disability.
The municipal DIF’s Albergue Granja Hogar provides shelter to girls and boys from 0-6 years of age who have been abandoned or are protected under public guardianship. They are provided psychological counseling, medical care, food and nutrition, comprehensive education, recreational and cultural activities.
The United States Northern Command’s Humanitarian Assistance Program funded the donation. Since 2007, the Humanitarian Assistance Program has collaborated with numerous institutions in Mexico. In Ciudad Juarez over the past two years the program funded donations to the Colonia Tarahumara, as well as two schools that are participating in the Chihuahua Business Federation’s (FECHAC) ADN after-school program, and to the Juarez Fire Department.