Vocational Update...

So it seems Chris has kept everyone up to date on our whereabouts, so I thought I'd just put a few points in from the Vocational Visits I have been fortunate enough to have had in the past 2 weeks...

Open Arms Orphanage - this was in Blantyre (Malawi). It is run beautifully by an English guy, Neville. They have an infants and a toddlers section in the main orpahange, and then a 'transition hut' where they bring family members in from the village to begin to transition the children back to their village families, once the families are able to care for them. They re-learn to sllep on a floor mat and eat village food that is cooked outside on the wood burners. The goal of the orphanage is to place the children back in their village with the support of their family. They provide the familiy with some food and farming items to assist the sustainability of the child's return. They also provide an outreach service where they go and check on the child's health and safety once they are back in the community.

For the children who are unable to be placed back in the village, they now have two house run by 'house mothers' and these children attend a private school in the area near the orphanage. It was a fabulous organisation to visit, and all the staff and volunteers appeared to be enjoying their work.

MACAHO - Fran and I visited this place in Blantyre where adults with vision, hearing and physical impairments are employed to make local handicrafts such as rugs, hammocks, clothing, embroidery, and placemats. They were doing some wonderful work, and the people who were working there were able to do tasks that suited their skills and abilities.

Delivering Wheelchairs in Salima - the RC of Lilongwe is involved with a project where they are dlivering wheelchairs to people with mobility issues in the villages of Malawi. My host, Hetherwick, also was delivering a wheelchair to the daughter of his cook at his lake house in Salima, so we went to do this before meeting the group for the bigger distribution.

Zione is the cooks daughter. She is 20 and has cerebral palsy, and until we too kthe wheelchair out, her family were carrying her around. We fitted her in the wheelchair and advised the family to provide some postural support using the sarongs that they carry their babies with over here. She seemed very excited about her new chair, and was smiling from ear to ear!! Her parents were very grateful.

We then went to the Madnaga area, a village in Salima, to the Clinic there where we met with the Tribal Authority (Chief Madanga - a lady!!) to deliver 18 wheelchairs to people with physical disabilities. Unfortunately, there were more children who required a wheelchair, and there weren't enough small chairs with appropriate supports for these kids. The wheelchairs we were able to fit were greatly appreciated. Our team worked together to unpack and put the wheelchairs together, while we tried to fit the appropriate sized wheelchair for the individuals who were present. A little different to wheelchair precription in Australia, I must admit, but I did more wheelchair adjustments and consultations in those few hours than I have in my whole career!! Fortunately, the family I was staying with had a daughter my age who is a doctor and she was able to interpret into the local language (Chechewa) for me. We tried to advise the guardians about the importance of providing some postural supports in the form of sarongs and pillows, as this is all they have access to. It was an amazing experience, and I'm so glad we were able to help out the Rotary Club in this project, as they have been so kind and generous to us. I've asked that next time they deliver wheelchairs they aim to take a physiotherapist from the local hospital (I'd say take an OT - but there are no OTs working in Lilongwe!!).

SOS Children's Village - Well, this was just a perfect place for me to visit! There was a rehabilitation hospital for childre aged 0 - 18 years, a special education unit, a kindergarden, a primary and high school, and also a Health Clinic servicing the local villages.

The Rehabilitation Program is serviced by Rehabtechnicians who have Diplomas in OT/PT, but are not 'officially' either. They run morning and afternoon programs for children with disabilities (primarily cerebral palsy) within a 25 km radius. The children come 2 x a week with their parent or guardian and do a 2 1/2 hour program involving aspects of OT, physio and speech therapy. The guy who runs the more 'OT' focussed programs supports the children and families with things such as mealtime management, play, fine motor skills, school readiness, and socialisation. The children are categorised according to their level of mobility.

Once they are ready to transtion to school, they may attend the special education unit and this is usually supervised by the rehab tech staff. The children may then transition into the main school - but the transition is not part time, they are required to attend mainstream school full time, with the support of Learning Support in the main school. This occurs in both Primary and secondary school.

The interesting thing is that the centre is able to make and supply equipment to the children and their families to take home - unlike Australia where we are unable to do this now due to the risk of litigation! They have large stocks of corner chairs, standing frames, wheelchairs and walkers - which is a fantastic resource for the children.

I was able to assist the rehab tech make a splint for a toddler - he was far from impressed with the situation though!! I was also able to leave them with some information and handouts from my memory stick, which they were incredibly grateful of, as they do not have internet access and the resources they have are more than 20 years old.

We also had a look around the Health Centre. The most interting part was the clinic HTC - HIV testing and counselling. The people who come to be tested are counselled by the nurse prior to being tested. Then, the have a blood sample analysed on a swab of paper which gives them a result in 10 - 15 minutes, and counselling is provided afterwards regarding disclosure to partners and family, as well as information on transmission risks and safe sex etc.. It seemed like a comprhensive service, given that they have had 1200 clients since January.

Sorry, this was meant to be a summary, but there have been so many fabulous experiences along the way!

We'll keep you updated as we head towards Zambia mid next week for the District Conference! We're looking forward to catching up with the 9210 team who visited our district before we left.

Take care, Jodie