At the main United Nations (UN) Headquarters, on Thursday 1 March, the event on the Status of Women “Transforming Communities Through Psychosocial Empowerment of Poor Rural Women and Girls” came to an end. The conference was part of the United Nations 56th Annual Commission that started on February 27th in the main office of this international organization located in New York, United States.
In front of a great audience, Dr. Liliana Mayo, General Director and founder of Centro Ann Sullivan del Peru (CASP) talked on the important work that CASP is doing in Peru and other 14 Latin American countries by training professionals and parents of people with different abilities living in rural areas through its distance education program, so they can help their children become independent, productive and happy people.
“I only hear applause and the strong beat of my heart. This means that the Centro Ann Sullivan del Peru has been successful at the United Nations. The applause is in recognition of the work we are doing daily so our young people with different abilities can be independent, productive and happy. Now we have new friends from other countries that know that these achievements are a result of the arduous work we do in Peru”, added Dr. Liliana Mayo in concluding her presentation in the UN.
The presentation titled “Marginalized women and girls or with different abilities in rural areas of Peru: An empowering journey through education”, reflects the reality of Peruvian woman in rural areas that can be great women through of a good education, treating them with dignity and working as a team.
The successful case of Miss Lidia Aponte who was born in Rahuapampa - a rural area in the Ancash department, and CASP student was presented in this event. Thanks to the appropriate education this person with physical disability received, she now performs administrative tasks in a well-known Peruvian bank. In this way, it is demonstrated that family work and a good education model can turn hard cases into successful ones in rural areas of our country, where women are exposed to different form of discrimination either in the educational or working environment.
About Dr. Mayo’ s presentation, Deanna Chitayat, Ph.D., from the American Psychological and Representative to the UN, said the following:
"Congratulations on a wonderful presentation at the United Nations 56th Commission on the Status of Women on March 1st, 2012. Your talk on "Transforming Communities Through Psychosocial Empowerment of Poor Rural Women and Girls " inspired the audience because it was probably the best explicit example of real people working in the field making a direct change in peoples lives.
What a wonderful story you told us! What great accomplishments. The diverse audience from all over the world responded to you, wanting to hear more and surrounding you afterwards. You and your colleagues made our symposium an outstanding contribution to understanding what accomplishments a few dedicated people can make working with this vulnerable group.
And we all had such a good time afterwards at the Beekman Top of the Tower. Did you get a chance to go outside to view that spectacular NY scene? My appreciation to you for making the event a big success.
Deanna"