Innovation

L. Camargo (personal communication , June 5, 2018) suggested that the kit has three fundamental parts, each one has a guide that they have designed and has three fundamental functions: to feed, to train and to rest.

We are innovating from our value chain, we made an alliance with a Company named Copel, we starting developing material, designed to children with disabilities; it has verification with urine, heat, the child does not stick, easy to clean in case of any fluid, a technology specially designed for children with cerebral palsy, that is what we made this year, we are experimenting in modules and we wait in our next productions take to the market with this improvements (L. Camargo, personal communication, June 5, 2018).

L. Camargo (personal communication , June 5, 2018) also suggested that the idea behind the innovation is unique in the market, because the innovation was patented, so Kitsmile can be use in other countries, to benefit other children. The Kitsmile is managed by a company and a foundation: Unidos para sonreír, under a brand.

If is a sponsor we work like a foundation, but if is a project with firm we work like company. The foundation was born in 2014, the objective is to improve the quality life in cerebral palsy and low incomes children, being able to provide innovative solutions to them, we used to delivered the kit and also train the caregivers for lack of knowledge, in most of the cases the head of household are women. Due to lack of resources and knowledge they can´t provide rehabilitation to their kids and because of that they end prostrated in a bed without to improve their lifestyle (L. Camargo, personal communication, June 5, 2018).

Inspiration

Everything started when we had the opportunity to meet Laura. She was a 5 years old girl who had cerebral palsy and lived in a Colombian town named Maya, Cundinamarca. Her mom did not have the knowledge to deal with Laura´s pathology, she used to say that Laura has something in her head, but she did not know exactly what cerebral palsy was, thus: she could not help her with her rehabilitation. Laura used to live two hours from the specialized center, it had a high cost to move from one place to other, to access a therapy of 45 minutes and feed Laura´s siblings, her mom used to plant pineapple. Leidy is my partner, when she meet Laura she realized that she spent the time in an inappropriate position, did not have any improvement and either the resources needed to improve her rehabilitation, there is where we inspired to start our project. After a long process with a foundation in Bogota, we called to Laura's mom in December 6th to delivered the kit but in December 8th she called to let us know that Laura passed away after not having the necessary resources to improve because of living at Maya, Cundinamarca. Since Laura died her mom became the main motor for us, children with disabilities around the world, with innovative solutions that impacts their lifes, and the caregiver´s life (L. Camargo, personal communication, June 5, 2018).

Overall impact

L. Camargo suggested that working with the foundation was not easy and the process was a little slow:

Each time we delivered the rehabilitation kit we benefit to four people: First, their caregiver that most of the time are their head household moms, second: the children and third: household; a Colombian family is usually composed by four people. However in rural towns families are usually widest, but what we want to say is that our multiplier if four, it means that our rehabilitation kit benefits to four people. We have delivered 55 rehabilitation kits benefiting to 220 people; the idea for this year is to cover larger projects allowing us to implement more than 50 or 100 rehabilitation kits and could have the same multiplier overcoming those numbers”. Now, the company and foundation are working with Carrefour Spain to get support to develop projects in Colombia and Spain, because: around the world are 105 millions of children with cerebral palsy (L. Camargo, personal communication, June 5, 2018).

Business benefit

L. Camargo (personal communication, June 5, 2018) suggested that the price of chair is 2.030 US$. but the price can be change depend of the Project. The company is making alliancies to support the projects.

Recently we made an alliance with Wingo, to sponsor trips in national destinations, now we are waiting to activate the internationals destinations and can lead solutions to more children in rural zones (L. Camargo, personal communication, June 5, 2018).

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Social and environmental benefit

L. Camargo (personal communication, June 5, 2018) suggested that social benefit of Kitsmile is developed methologies to help caregiver: First, teach to perform the exercises to become in a fundamental part in the rehabilitation of the children at home. Second: giving a psychosocial approach.

When we have delivered rehabilitation kits we have noticed that the mom caregiver suffers a lot, happens because in Colombia we have the typical divine punishment that judge: Who knows what you had done before to have had a kid like that, so when we train them, explain and make them to understand that the disability is not because they had done something wrong, that working together their children can improve their lifestyle. Regularly we make a follow up to all cases to see wich is the improve, our interest more than deliver a kit is to identify and tabular wich is the children improve, we have had stories like: since the child started to use the kit, he avoid a spinal surgenry or, since started using the kit, the child has head control, the child started crawling. These are small goals that help us to identify which is the real impact in the medium and longer term of the therapeutic kit (L. Camargo, personal communication, June 5, 2018).

Interview

Laura Maria Camargo, Brand Manager