Mobility International USA (MIUSA) is looking for 16 young leaders with disabilities, ages 18-24, to participate in the “Youth Leadership and Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Disability Rights Exchange Program” for 16 days in San Jose, Costa Rica. The group will include first-time travelers, people living with a wide variety of disabilities, and people with diverse backgrounds.
MIUSA, a non-profit organization established in 1981, is dedicated to empowering people with disabilities through participation in international exchange programs, and collaborates with disability-led organizations in Costa Rica who are committed to similar change.
“The Costa Ricans’ desire to improve life for those with disabilities rouses our group and inspires us to work harder in our own lives,” says Sarah Snyder, a 2007 delegate and wheelchair user from Missouri who listens intently during a wheelchair workshop about a Costa Rican woman who laid in bed for 14 years without access to a wheelchair. “We hear the cry of these groups who say these problems have to stop.”
Concerns about cost should not keep people from applying, since MIUSA offers generous scholarships to qualified applicants thanks to the New York Community Trust, DeWitt Wallace/Youth Travel Enrichment Fund.
MIUSA has hosted leadership exchanges like this summer’s for more than 26 years in more than 100 countries to unite the disabilities around the world in the goals of equality and human rights.
Participants in this year’s program must be:• U.S. citizens• 18-24 years old• Available June 27-July 12, 2008
The program does not require participants to know Spanish. MIUSA will also work with participants regarding any disability-related accommodations they need in order to be able to participate fully.
“We provide American Sign Language interpretation on the program and materials in alternative formats. Other accessibility arrangements, such as personal assistants, will be negotiated to ensure full participation,” says Jena Price, the MIUSA program specialist who will lead the group abroad.
Learn more about the program, download the application, and see pictures from last year’s program online at http://www.miusa.org/exchange/costarica08. Applications will be accepted as space permits.
Deadline to apply: Late applications being accepted as space permits. Applications available at www.miusa.org. To request an application, email exchange@miusa.org, call 541-343-1284 (tel/tty), or download it online at: www.miusa.org/exchange/costarica08.
To learn more about Costa Rica and disability issues, visit the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange’s “Featured Country: Costa Rica” at http://www.miusa.org/ncde/intlopportunities/costa_rica.
Melissa Mitchell is the Outreach and Training Coordinator for the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange.
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