We All Can Help - Todos Podemos Ayudar

A lot of people with diabilities live in countries where we cannot affor dto buy comercial expensive assistive technologie solutions, so imagine if you have an accident and now you cannot use your phone,eat,or do most of things without help.  Asistive devices could be a solution,but they are very expensive. So we develop low cost solutions, and teach people how to build them by themselves with low cost materials and easy to find tools. I have worked that way by myslef for 12 years,iamgine if we develop a place where peopel with needs can share their real problems ,and also we look for makers and universities, profesionals, students, that want to help solving those problems. Could be a great solution and helpa lot of people working toguether

How difficult ist is for a teacher to receive a student with disabilities, how teach math to him if he cannot see, is a problem for the student and for the teacher,for the family,for everybody. If he cannot have the proper education, he wouldnt be able to find agood jeb neither, so imagine if we have 1 billion peple with disbilitie sin the world, how many they need assistive tech solutions and how many of them cnnot afford to buy expensive ones.

We developed a practical workshop where through training of trainers we teach parents, teachers and community leaders, how they can make these specialized accessibility devices at home using low-cost materials that can be easily obtained locally. In addition, the problem was not only to get the device, suppose someone receives it as an international donation but if it breaks down there are no spare parts or specialized personnel with knowledge to repair it. With our workshops, those attending these can learn to detect what type of device is ideal for each person according to their disability, learn how to make it and in turn how to repair or create another if someone else needs it. This is also complemented by courses in sign language, braille, augmentative and alternative communication, a variety of free apps and specialized free accessibility software, and other knowledge and resources such as manuals and guides that help achieve a true process of digital accessibility with users. minimal costs and high profit. if we have an online platform with needs and solvers, we can really have a bigger impact and help more people online

with this solutions we can help teachers teach better to people with disabilities,they learn more and can have better jobs,also help them with solutions for an office for work inclusion, help them with solutions to thei daily lives tasks. The key is hear them,not being ina workshop and imagine what they neeed, no, the project develops real solutions to real problems, so we need to hear the problems teachers have when teahing,the problems students have,the problems with families the problems that need a solution. with a big platform we can hear and find more needs, and also more makers and people to work togheter and develop better solutions

How can the marginalized population in Latin America and the Caribbean develop the necessary skills to access good jobs, better opportunities and general well-being? I cannot find a perfect solution for everybody, bu i have been working for 12 years developing low cost assistive solutions and teaching how yo build them with community leadrs,schools, companies,libraries. But also with video tutorials to reach even to more people in all the world. i have limited access to people needs and my capacity in technical and time to develop solutions.with the platform we get more pelple needs and more solvers change the world

we have been working 12 years thsi way, hearing people needs,understanding what they really want,and helping them develop solutions they can afford. the only change is to make it bigger in a platform, but we have been doing that for ear s at a smaller scale, by email and social media we ask people to share their needs and we ave asked to other people to help when i need more people.

92% of people with disabilities in Colombia are extremely poor, they dont have good job options and most of them dont know that asssitive technology exists, in colombia and in msot cities of latin america you cannot go to a supermarket or mall and find a store to buy AT, you have to buy it online,with a creadit card,pay international shipping and big taxes. Most of the comercial assistive tech devices are extremely expensive, so buying them is not an option. People with disabilities have a great slogan, "nothing for us, without us" so for real inclusión we need to be near to people with disabilities,hear their real problems, understand what they are living, what problems thei families have,their teachers,companies to give work to people with diabilities what they need? when we really understand that a lady maybe wants to get her nails painted by herself without help, eat by herself, use the computer by herseld,study at school..any things. and i develope real solutions for thos eproblems and i can be sure that simple low cost solution,will improve their lives. So what happen if i get more help, if we can sask more people what problems they have,what solutiosn they really need, and get a makers community  to help me develop those solutions. w e can really change the world,for sure. My website already has some info,on social media we already have some networks,but with your help ,we have no limits!

As easy as a google form to enter what people with disabilitie sneed, and another google form for solvers and makers to help. On our website using wordpress, people can find the problems to solve and send us their diy solutions, we look for it,and if is good,we publish the solutions. Key of success has been talking with universities, libraries, ngo,but also use social medai,ask people to share and get this bigger. also we had some video tutorials to help makers understnd better the eneeds,how use their abilities to really help and apply to our needs database.

we have received awars,been on tv,newspapers,but the real evidence is when you see someone with disabilities smile,being happy with their low cost solution working! Moving a mouse with their foot,painting moving his head, using a smartphonw without help with an adapted stylus to her elbow. He re i share a video of luz marina, ata ge 15 violence cut her hand, we made a low cost solution and hear how happy she is 

https://todoesciencia.minciencias.gov.co/felipe-bentacur#:~:text=Felipe%20Betancur%20es%20un%20caso,con%20discapacidades%20de%20todo%20tipo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSpShuvmz8s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7UqGBj0kWQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkfLTqilQK4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2jpc2GWClQ

https://www.innovaspain.com/felipe-betancur-fundacion-todos-podemos-ayudar-under35-colombia/

Sure,like every tool or technology, you have some rules, as a low cost solution, we ask people to look for risks,for example if someone blind will use a device,avoid sharp edges so he cannot cut by accident. Maybe a dit cane for blinf with pvc pipe,wont be as strong as an alluminium one, so that is also a risk or advice ,taking care of these solutions without breaking them. But also there is a great adavantage of this,they can be repaired, if you breaka commercial solution,you wont find parts to reapir it,with diy you can reopair it easy and at low cost. the other risk or advice is the risk of a solution noot working or not really the ideal solution for what a person needs. thats why we need to really hear what they are asking for,what they really need, and try ,test,and be sure it works as good as the commercial one, or even beter sometimes.

as i said before,it is not easy to know, with tutorialsm,millions have viewed our videos and learned to make solutions, and if they teach to others is even better,more people knowing how to help. we think we help aproximately 1.000.000 people each year,and directly 10.000. But this is not only numbers as one time i said to a teacher at a university that said accessibility is not important for them because onlya  very smal percentage of their students had a disability,so they dont need help. that is not true,if you offer solutiosn,ids, help, people with tdisabilities will get out from their homes and study, word,travel,live

working togheter with ohers, get in contact with high schools, universities,technicl schools, ngo, hospitals, and lot of places on Colombia and all latin america to have even more impact,more people asking for help,and more poople helping.Alone by myself i aleady had big impact, with a little help i had even more, but if i get to work with me a really big network of solvers,could be a dream come true, lie being the captain of the boat of inclusion to help millions. can you help me make that dream come true?

Sure,followers on social media,not as big,but the comments are great,they say thanks for sharing and how they are using the tutorials. Aslo we need to update the website witha new sistem to see the number of volunteers and the database of problems, see how many people get to the website. aslo calling by phone and by mail lot of schools and places to ask people to join us on this great inclusion project

We are only 3 full time, we are family,i work with my dad and my sister, we love social innovaion, accessibilty,helping. bu when we need help, we ask on facebook or instagram and we find a designer or the help we need

we have a great time, we are family,we love social work. My father traveled with me to workshops in far away rural areas,ad we love that. My sister is a social worker,she is great a social media and with events,making calls, sending emails, using word and excel to send information and being in contact. MNy father traves withme for workshops,buys materials, help me record videos, he is very good with political contacts,meetings,friends in big companies and all that stuff. I am the inventir,creativity and both of them are like the not fun but very important pieces of our ngo. we work great togheer and we love to see results of work, no matter how hard it is,is great to receive a video or message of a teacher showing how our inventiosn helped her help her studentsant thinks like that

My father has more than 70 yearsand he is leader also,he teached me to help. My sister is social worker with diabetes and other healt issues, she is the one that guide us,the contracts, the money, legal, she gets the ideas and write them asa good project. We want to get the project bigger to give job oportunities to people with disabilities, and caregivers. this sis not only about people with diabilities being able to use a computer,more than technical,is how to improve lives of lot of people, giving them oportunities to study,to work, to play at th part,practice a sport, have fun with videogames, go to the movies. giving them that technological device that will help them enjoy the activities they could not enjoy before by themselves without those devices

My dream is getting the project bigger adn bigger,mopre impact,help more poeple,more helpers, a big network, help schools teach students with disabilities with our diy solutions, help companies give job opportunities for example ina callcenter using our diy solutions. really help people enjoy their lives. to make this real i cannot do this by myseld, so thsi si my dreama bout winning:

Getting customized follow up supports, mentorship, networking connections with experts and key industry leaders, and other activities to help incubate, scale, or accelerate solutions across Latin America and the Caribbean.  WOW Pleaseee, and also the money as finalsit or winner would be great, but no money is so impornat as the cotnacts and connections you may have. Like on shark tnak,i alwas said is not how much money they receive froma  shark investor, is that networking  that he can help them sell millions, no frontiers,dream bigger

im proud of my team, my fahter and my sister help a lot, and we do as much as we can. if we ned something done in photoshop i make it, but i know i am not as good as a graphic desinger,the same with videos,with webpage and all. We do what we can, we go at aour own speed trying to help as much as we can. sure with help in different areas we can help more and more people, thsi si a networg,if i receive more help, i can take this boat to new places,dream,dream bigger,hel,help even more. thanks

OAS, Unicef, WHO, united nations,Google. Contacts, help with ideas for devices,a nd people to make them. also any other goverment, company or  referals you may have that love inclusión,accessibility