By Maria Theoktisto | Story of Alina
Alina is 12 years old. She lives with her grandmother, her younger brother, a dog, a cat, two parakeets and a turtle in one of El Chorrillos’s most dangerous barracks. When she was 2 years old she had an accident with a standing fan that left her with a big scar in her bottom left cheek. This incident made her very self-conscious, defensive, choosing to attack first rather than be attacked and also very introverted. Her defensive attitude caused her a lot of problems and she always found herself in some kind of trouble.
She came to Enlaces in June 2012, with bright eyes and a lot of energy. Her progress was fast. Dancing became her "thing" and in less than a year she became one of the best dancers in the class. She once said, “When I dance I feel like I am flying, like I am somewhere else”.
A couple of months ago, Alina was walking to a park near her neighborhood and she was hit by a vehicle that left her lying helpless on the street. Nobody saw anything, nobody said anything. The law of silence. Besides the fact that no charges were brought for this unfortunate event, she also was left with an injury to her right knee that made her limp. She missed several days of school because her grandmother couldn't afford medical care and what was even worse to her was that she couldn’t dance. “I am worried I’ll never dance again, I thought I was going to die”, she said sadly.
The Enlaces team immediately sorted together a strategy to restore her health back to normal if not better than before. The dance teachers got her an appointment with the best doctor in sports medicine of the country, and then she went over three weeks of physical therapy in one of the best clinics of the city. Since she missed over a month of school, the Enlaces team also helped her with her studies and homework so she didn’t fall behind her peers. When she went back to class the school principal told her “accidents keep chasing you, you better take care of yourself”.
The accident has been a new beginning for Alina. Her grades have improved and as well as her performance in dance class. She received a lot of letters and visits from her friends and teachers that missed her while she was away from the program.
Two months after the accident she is back on stage preparing a solo for a presentation in August. She is aware she has to take care of herself and that her body is her temple and she values dancing more than ever.
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By Maria Theoktisto | Program Coordinator
By Dalys Rodriguez | Executive Director
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