Volver a Vivir
Return to Life

In 1981, Project PROJIMO, run by and for people with disabilities, was
established in order to provide low-cost medical services and appropriate
technology to disabled children while also helping them to realize their
physical and mental potential.

PROJIMO has expanded to include adults in the rehabilitation process, as well as offering workshops to others from around the world on how to build wheelchairs, orthopedic braces, prosthetics and other essential aspects of rehabilitation. PROJIMO which means
"Rehabilitation Program Organized by Disabled Youth of Western Mexico," runs
a small rehabilitation center, including a playground- built and used by many
children in the village- and a workshop where disabled villagers can learn
skills, such as carpentry, welding, sewing, and leatherwork, that help both
the project and the villagers work towards self-sufficiency.


© 1996 Wide Vision Productions

In 1993, Suzanne Levine, a free-lance photographer and activist in disability
issues, made two trips to PROJIMO to teach video production. Struck by the
positive energy there, she photographed the members of the project and began
to conceive of this book.

On each visit she returned the many photos taken to the people whose lives
they portray. On a third visit, she asked six individuals from the PROJIMO
team to select photographs they were willing to share, and write what they
would want to say to a person with a recent spinal cord injury about their
own process of gaining independence. This is how Volver a Vivir / Return to
Life came to be.

© 1996 Wide Vision Productions

As Ralf Hotchkiss, founder of the Whirlwind Network, (a world wide alliance
of wheechair builders) writes in the book's foreword, "[Suzanne's] images go
beyond the basics of documenting the activities of people in PROJIMO to show
warm, close details of their family life and the great variety of work they
engage in.... [She] photographs with an open heart and a keen eye for
perspective and detail. This book is her labor of love, made more so by the
fact that she trusted each person to tell their own story and choose their
own photos. "Return to Life" is literally about PROJIMO, but it reflects a
world-wide movement of people with disabilities in developing countries
coming together, meeting their needs, then going on to inspire and encourage
the rest of society."
Volver a Vivir/Return to Life is 72 pages, with 43 photos (10 color). Copies are $16 each (plus $2 shipping). Volume discounts are available. Profits from this book will be returned to PROJIMO. To buy Volver a Vivir/Return to Life, please call or send your order to

WideVision Productions
Box 22115
San Francisco, CA 94122-0115
(415) 387-0617
WideVision@waonline.com


© 1993 Wide Vision Productions

p.s. From those of us at The Bookstore...buy two copies of the book...one for yourself and one for Wide Vision Productions to give to someone in need without the funds.

All contents Copyright 1995, Rancho Park Publishing. All Rights Reserved.


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