BRINGING HOPE TO THE BLIND IN PERU
A Gift of Self-Reliance
In Peru, people with visual impairments often lack job prospects.
Â
Grimaldo was a miner in Chincha, Peru when he lost his eyesight during a dynamite explosion at the mines. The road to re-building his life was long but he learned to be self-sufficient by learning Shiatsu and other massage techniques at the Center for the Rehabilitation of the Blind in Peru.
Thankfully, Maryknoll Father Kyungsu Son, listened to Grimaldo when he suggested that learning massage therapy would be life changing for blind people living in poverty.
Father Son opened Casa Bartimeo that offers:
- Five styles of massage
- Classes on theoretical and practical concepts of muscle systems, human bone structure, the physiology of organs and joints, as well as body therapies taught by licensed blind teachers
- Psychological, social and spiritual support
- Legal advice and moral support from a blind lawyer, Robert Monterrey Melgarejo, who volunteers his services at the Center
- Breakfast and lunch for students provided by Niño Jesús Parish and the Maryknoll Society
- A certificate from the Diocese of LurÃn after a yearlong training
- Upon graduation, a start-up tool for work–a massage table–given to each therapist by Bishop Carlos Garcia of the Diocese of LurÃn
- 160,000 Peruvians are blind and almost 600,000 have some visual disability.
A Maryknoll-supported project is giving the blind in Peru a chance at self-sufficiency through massage therapy training.
JOIN US and your gift to Maryknoll will make sure that all those we serve — in Peru and in every one of our mission initiatives throughout the world — are cared for with the respect they deserve, and receive the compassion of Jesus Christ.
