Fundación Telefónica

Volunteering Supportive actions Argentina

Telefónica Volunteers take part in the equine therapy program every Wednesday and Saturday at the Natural Service Centre in the Bella Vista neighborhood, in Buenos Aires . 12 volunteers are taking part in this initiative, helping boys and girls suffering from some type of motor disability.

Buenos Aires, 26 June 2012.- The Telefónica Argentina Volunteer Program is taking part in the seventh edition of the Equine therapy project, developed jointly with Harmos Asociación Civil.

The activities, which began in April last year, will continue until the first Saturday of December, every Wednesday from 14.00 to 17.00 and Saturdays from 09.30 to 13.30. They will be held in the Natural Service Centre, located at calle Juan Manuel de Rosas 279, Bella Vista, in the Buenos Aires province.

The purpose of the program is to help boys and girls suffering from some type of motor disability by developing equestrian rehabilitation activities, used as a tool that fosters new corporal perceptions, which result in a significant decrease in the pathological patterns which they are used to. These experiences, which are carried out under the guidance of a specialized therapist, help to enrich and add new sensorial sources to the development of a corporal structure based on both physical and psychological reality.

Twenty volunteers are taking part in this initiative, whose main functions include: being aware of each particular situation that the child goes through; preparing the horses, taking part in stable activities, collaborating in caring for, brushing and feeding the animals; providing assistance on the track, whenever one person on each side is required; leading the horse, adjusting the frequency and pace indicated by the therapists; helping the children get on and off the horse; preparing the track with the materials and circuits indicated for each session; and collaborating in the activities before and after the session.

The project is jointly developed with Harmos Asociación Civil, which is an organization whose mission is to “improve and optimise the quality of life of children and adolescents with development disorders and any type of disability, thanks to an interdisciplinary therapeutic task, supporting and advising families and other institutions, and committing to the task in order to enable a true social integration”.