Ep #20--Fork In The Road: The Aqua Therapy Program with Yvonne Armour

Before turning left at the cactus, here’s another “Fork in the Road.”  This Fork is lead by Yvonne Armour.  This is a preview of what Yvonne shared with me. In 2019 the first aqua therapy was held with disabled students at the community pool, located in town.  This was a deep pool and had very limited access in and out. Several students learned to swim and it was a great program! However we realized it wasn’t a long term option at this location. My girl friend Elizabeth Sainez and family owned the building in town. It was going to be for video arcade games and a bumper boat Pool. When the economy crashed so did that dream. But they very much wanted it to still benefit the community. 2020 refurbishing started on the bumper boat pool, located at the Nino De Arena building. This was a one depth pool that was large enough to safely host aqua therapy. New pumps, filters, wiring, painting... The list of improvements is long.  Lots of people stepped up as sponsors and labor volunteers to accomplish the refurbishing of this pool. The program provides a safe place for disabled students and their families to enjoy water. Lots of donations from businesses and private pockets have been received. This includes financial funding, pump equipment, chlorine, swimsuits, towels and new equipment. THANK YOU to ALL sponsors for making this program work. Aquaventures swim Centre with Sharron Crowley San Felipe Solar & electric Schmitty Pools Second chance resale Sunrunner mailbox San Felipe Brewery company Rotary club of San Felipe Lions club of San Felipe DIDAF- Cristian Lara & Sergio Gonzalez Perez Government of San Felipe Brotherhood MC Desert Adventure Tours Dozen+ of volunteers Staff from the CAM School Families & their students HJD Construction- Javier Dagnino Private donors Yessica Calderon- local woman from San Felipe. Physical therapist working with students. (Diosa Mexa’s on FB) You'll see and hear a great number of physical volunteers, that make this program a success. All we can say is THANK YOU! 2021 was the first year aqua therapy was held at the Nino De Arena pool. Lots of great volunteers and students showed up to make it a success! 2022- more modifications have been done to the pool and the pool opened for the programs fourth! Check the FB weekly during June/July/August and September for new photos in the photo album 2023 as the program continues to grow. To find out more about the Aqua Therapy Program, you can find them on Facebook, or, DM Yvonne.   ABOUT Turn Left at the Cactus is a locally operated podcast in San Felipe, Baja, Mexico. This podcast is produced by Calyn Whedbee and co-hosted by Calyn and Tricia Sikes. We dropped our first podcast in the summer of 2022. And, honestly, given the demographic we are working with, had absolutely no idea whether any of it would fly. And, honestly, still don’t know.  To our amusement and surprise, however, our listening base is growing --“poco a poco.”     The primary focus of Turn Left is discovering what foreign nationals,who live and work here--full or part time--find so attractive about the area; why they moved here; and, what they think is deserving of more attention. However, we don't always stick to the script, so virtually anything is possible. We drop episodes as often as we can interview people and get them into post production.  This is a labor of love, so we have opted out of a specific time schedule. We “drop” when we can. The views expressed by our guests may not always be those of the hosts. However, it doesn't matter, we want to hear those views anyway. If you are loving learning more about the many voices that make up our San Felipe community, please subscribe to our podcast and give us a LIKE on Spotify or Apple.   You can make us really experience "no bad days" if you buy us a beer at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/turnleftatthecactus⁠.  MOST IMPORTANTLY please share us with your friends! Cal & Tricia