Helping Children in Need
The Royal Resorts Foundation is always looking for ways to help children, giving them the opportunity to study or to get life-changing therapy, and giving them moments of happiness during the year.
Physical therapy for greater mobility and quality of life
The Foundation sponsors six children with mobility and neurological challenges so that they can attend regular physical therapy sessions at the CRIT Rehabilitation Center in Cancun. The treatment is personalized and based on their needs, it may include hydrotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and family counseling.
During the year, staff at the CRIT send an update on the children’s progress detailing the treatment they have received. You can see from the smiling faces that they love their time in the pool and in the workshops. Here is their second semester progress report.
David
David had his regular checkup with the doctor who then plans the next stage of his treatment. Based on the program, he attended 26 physical therapy sessions; seven hydrotherapy sessions; seven Teleton workshops to help him learn new skills and discover his talents and had three appointments with the pediatrician and nutritionist. Finally, and he and his family also had three meetings with the psychologist.
Jacob
Based on Jacob’s regular checkup with his doctor who then plans the next stage of his treatment, he attended 19 physical therapy sessions; seven hydrotherapy sessions and one Teleton workshop to help him learn new skills and discover his talents. He had three appointments with other doctors on the team (one with the pediatrician, one with the orthopedist and one with the audiologist). He attended four speech therapy sessions to help improve his communication skills and he and his family also had seven meetings with the psychologist.
Maria Angel
After Maria Angel’s regular checkup with her doctor who plans the next stage of her treatment, she attended eight physical therapy sessions; two hydrotherapy sessions and one appointment with the neurologist. She had three speech therapy sessions and three family meetings with the psychologist.
Oliver
Oliver’s regular checkup with his doctor was followed by a program of 12 physical therapy sessions and three appointments with other doctors on the team (one with the pediatrician, one with the neurologist and one with the nutritionist). He had four speech therapy sessions to help improve his communication skills and he and his family also had seven meetings with the psychologist.
Osmar
Meet Osmar, whose medical checkup was followed by a program of 11 physical therapy sessions; 12 Teleton workshops to help him learn new skills and discover his talents and an appointment with the audiologist. He also had six occupational therapy workshops to help him improve the skills he needs for daily life. His treatment included 12 speech therapy sessions and he and his family also had two meetings with the psychologist.
Susan
After meeting with the doctor for her regular checkup, Susan had 27 physical therapy sessions, seven hydrotherapy classes and three Teleton workshops to help her learn new skills and discover her talents. Susan had an appointment with the neurologist and the audiologist and attended three speech therapy classes. She and her family also met with the psychologist 12 times for counselling to help them as they come to terms with Susan’s medical condition.
Since 1999, when the first Teleton Rehabilitation Center opened, it has helped 727,031 children throughout the country at 24 centers and two hospitals offering specialist care to children with autism and cancer. Two more rehabilitation clinics are set to open in December 2023 in Guerrero and Mazatlan, Sinaloa.
Education for life
The Royal Resorts Foundation gives scholarships to students at Colegio Mano Amiga, a school on the outskirts of Cancun. Our scholarship pupils, all girls, are currently studying their second year of high school in a mixed class (Class 2A), and have dreams of becoming doctors and health workers, attorneys and engineers.
At the beginning of the year, the pupils were tested to identify the learning technique they use: auditive, kinesthetic or visual. A socioeconomic test was also carried out to discover whether they had access to internet or a printer at home and if not, the distance to the nearest stationery store or internet café.
The study revealed that none of the students have experienced serious problems such as domestic violence, yet some of them do come from broken homes. They get on well as a group and excel at teamwork. To expand their skills even further, in 2022 they began to follow a Cognitive Skills Development course supported by Ciudad de la Alegría, Fundación Lomas and Santander.
After the pandemic, teachers noted that the academic level had fallen in mathematics and reading comprehension and that pupils’ socioemotional development had been affected. To help them catch up, they are attending additional classes with three teachers and a fourth topic – financial management– has been incorporated.
The socioemotional program included sessions on deep breathing to help with anxiety management, knowing how to listen, problem solving, self-discovery, empathy and working together. As a result of this extra attention, staff have noticed a marked improvement in students’ communication skills, they have been able to confide in their teachers and express their emotions.
Several students such as Elsa Maria, Joshua and Cielo Maria consistently excel when it comes to grades, lesson participation and conduct.
Extra-curricular activities this year have included a chess tournament, a robotics course, an environmental education workshop on recycling followed by an eco-parade at which they exhibited the work they created with the art teacher.
All the students in Class 2A are eager to learn, hungry for knowledge and motivated by their teachers. Thanks to your donations, the Royal Resorts Foundation can continue supporting them.
A new children’s playground for Parque Cancun
The children’s playground purchased with the money raised from the 2023 Royal Resorts Foundation Race is now open and is providing hours of fun for all children, including those with mobility and visual challenges.
Swings, slides and climbing frames and walkways are combined with displays on native species and Maya culture in Spanish and Braille.
Read more for information on Royal Resorts Foundation causes and to donate online
