Game Changer Pablo Salazar helping the disabled in Colombia

Americas Now

Game Changer Pablo Salazar helping the disabled in Colombia

10 years ago, Pablo Salazar had an accident diving into shallow water that left him paralyzed from the waist down. As a quadriplegic, he quickly realized how ill equipped his hometown of Bogota was to facilitate every life to people with disabilities. There are an estimate 650,000 citizens with disabilities living in Colombia’s capital, but the city lacks the minimal infrastructure for them, leaving many further excluded from society.

In 2007, Pablo created Arcangeles, an organization that provides basic care for disabled people in poor communities in need of professional treatment. According to the 33 year old Salazar, who is also the head of the Colombian Paralympic Committee, the issue is not only the need for ramps to access many buildings and public spaces, but more broadly what he calls a “culture of exclusion” that is pervasive and even harder to change than the poor infrastructure.

Twitter: @JuanPSalazarS