We at Adopolis believe that the Gift of Children Enriches the World. Developing children’s sense of belonging in the world gives them a wider vision to define themselves as citizens of the world along with the desire to share and emphasize with their fellow humans with whom they inhabit the world. The task to care for children is not solely a parent’s task. It involves all adult members of a family, community services, and a variety of private and governmental entities from all levels. Children need a great deal of help to overcome the obstacles to becoming well adjusted adults.

In line with these beliefs, Adopolis launched on March 7, 2008 the implementation of a Sensory Integration training project for foster caregivers in Bogotá, Colombia in cooperation with the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF). This is a pilot project dependent on volunteer labor and designed for 20 hours (4 hours per week for 5 weeks) at the ICBF's Bogotá regional office with an initial group of 15 to 20 participants. We are currently working to expand it in scope and offer it at additional locations throughout the country and potentially to other countries.

Sensory Integration is a subspecialty of Occupational Therapy that seeks to improve a person’s ability to interact with the world around him. Sensory Integration nourishes the brain by helping the brain properly digest the sensory information it receives from the world around it, allowing a person to take in, sort out, and connect information from the environment and act on it in an organized manner. It is an important skill that children must master as part of their normal growth and development. Many atypical behaviors observed in children can be better understood when the effects of a disorganized central nervous system are taken into consideration. Children who suffer developmental delays caused by life in an unwholesome environment often benefit from this therapy.

The instructor of the educational and training project is Luz Rocio Cardozo, an Occupational Therapist from Colombia. She has had a private practice for 15 years and works part time in a Public Hospital in Bogotá. She has taken numerous continuing education courses in the United States, including training in Sensory Integration.

The educational and training project in Sensory Integration seeks to teach and motivate public employees, foster parents and caregivers to realize and understand how important their care is in the development of the children. Adopolis is including the participation of male family members, grandparents, teenagers or grownup children as well as the foster mothers to stimulate full community participation to provide for the needs of the children.

Adopolis is pleased to share some photos of the work in progress.