Speakers and Dialogue Leaders: Juan Martín Botero
Juan Martín Botero is a wheelchair user because of Friederich’s Ataxia since 2005. He was born in Cali, Colombia, South America. He is a graduate from Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia. And has a masters in liberal arts, focused in anthropology, at Harvard University, at Cambridge, MA, where he now lives. He is also enrolled in the Graduate Certificate Program on Disability and Diversity Studies, at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. His principle interest, outside of his work as a developer, is in the study of “space and place” for people with disabilities in urban environments. In the future he would like to combine his IT knowledge/experience, the research approaches of anthropology, and the studies on disability to raise disability awareness, promote human rights and transform the lives of people with disabilities in Bogotá a city in a developing country. Juan Martín was a rock climber and mountain guide in Colombia in his 20’s, and four years ago started to rekindle his passion for mountains, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, descending the Gran Canyon, following the Inca Trail in Perú, collaborating in mountaineering for people with disabilities non-profit, and hopefully in 2012 rolling to Everest Base Camp.
