Founders

When Bob Wiens was preparing to move to Colombia to work with a five-country consortium he had the good opportunity to attend Spanish classes provided by his employer, TransCanada PipeLines. Wiens and his wife Marlene were offered Berlitz courses in Houston to prepare for their new experience – an adventure that resulted in the couple launching an organization to serve people in Colombia’s rural and urban communities.

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While Bob worked on a new pipeline, Marlene improved her language skills by joining local women’s groups and engaging in volunteer work. A physical therapist by profession, she soon got involved in caring for children with disabilities and organized the involvement of physical therapy students from local universities to help teachers understand the issues facing the disadvantaged. She later formed FANDIC (Friends of children with disabilities for their inclusion into the Community). The organization is still running strong, long after Marlene left Colombia in 1998. In 2001, to support that work in Latin American, the Canadian Association for Participator Development (CAPD) was formed in Calgary to support community development initiatives assisting disadvantaged people. It has achieved tremendous results through FANDIC by providing therapy, inclusion of children with disabilities in public schools, training for family members, recreation, workshops, and small business opportunities.

Marlene says the organization worked with mothers who didn’t know what to do with their disabled children, many of whom were hidden away from others in their community.

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Today, many children are enjoying the benefits of having a community-based organization that uses a holistic approach. In 2010, The Green Light Education Assistance Program for low-income students was added. It provided children with school uniforms, shoes, and a knapsack with school supplies. It encouraged the students to maintain a 75% average and to volunteer in the community. As the years progressed, projects with emphasis in the environment, entrepreneurship and saving in partnership with the Investing Hope Foundation, and leadership were added. Today, many children are enjoying school and their proud parents have undertaken social commitments in the community leading to social cohesion and pride in community. CAPD also launched its Safe Water Program in 2013 to provide household water treatment systems in collaboration with Rotary clubs in Canada and Colombia. It has provided 11,000 BioSand water filters–with technical support and Spanish language instruction from Calgary based CAWST (Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology) – to rural families in many Colombian states, removing worries about parasites and diarrhea from drinking dirty water. Previously, where there was no piped water, sanitation is now in the hands of families who are maintaining their filters and learning the importance of hygiene.

 

CAPD has received support from the Alberta government, the Calgary Foundation specifically COLMED, Calgary Rotary Clubs, the Bronwen Foundation, corporations, and many individuals who have helped raise the funding required to maintain projects and programs that assist disadvantaged Colombian people.