After the visit to the rehabilitation hospital, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to work with one of the peer counellors, who has been paralysed with a spinal cord injury for 16 years. We stayed late on Monday so she could come in after work, and she came with one of the physical therpists too. Evan spent time doing training with the client, the client's father, the PT and with two of the qualified therapists at the clinic. He then gave her a full complementary massage, which she said she was so happy to receive and wanted to pay Evan! (He said no of course). The exciting thing for the clinic is that she is planning to come back to work with one of the blind massage therapists, and we hope that we have now built a bridge with the hospital and the clinic to provide medical massage.
We have had to cancel our plans to visit Lumbini due to a 8 or 9 day transportation strike in the region. The area has had some conflict too, as no buses, lorries, taxis, etc are being allowed in or out. So, we'll have to visit Buddha's birthplace another time. Also, there is some political upheavel in Kathmandu with the prime minister resigning. We are monitoring the situation and we should be fine.
All the students passed their final exam today to end the next unit, and all have been working hard. We have had a steady stream of volunteer massages for student practice from the Rainbow Children's Orphanage, thanks in part to the fantastic and energetic nurse we met there who is vounteerig from the UK. Evan has spent more time this week working with the qualified therapists, sharing skills and training them in massage assessment, special testing, nervous system involvement, and of course spinal cord injury specific techniques. Andy also spent some time doing more training on assessment techniques, such as use of pain scale and manual muscle testing. They are so eager to learn as much as they can, and it has been especially rewarding working with them.
We went back to visit the orphanage yesterday, and were very pleased to see many of the assessment recommendations have already been implemented. Our naughty little girl is already seeking out more positive reinforcement from the staff and volunteers! And the little boy who refused to be touched and ran away came bounding up to greet us yesterday and to hug us - brought tears to the eyes! And the little guy who can't turn his palms up is starting to try and do it!
After this visit, we went to visit another orphangae (Namaste Children's House) - this one is larger with 70 children, plus an excellent program that provides school books, uniforms and tuition fees for at risk children staying in hostels. When we were there, there were an additional 30 kids waiting (very patiently) to get there bag of supplies. We met with the director, who expressed great interest in having Andy come back to do some staff inservices on special education and therapy. He is on the board of directors for the Pokhara region orphange association, so wants to have staff from all the orphanages comes for training - great way to make huge impact! So, of course, we have no time now, but will plan to be back to do that in the future - they have many needs (physical, emotional, behavioral) so we hope to make a difference there. Evan's experience as a group home counsellor will also prove useful we expect. Tomorrow we plan to visit their handicraft center where widowed/abandoned women and children make handicrafts to sell to raise funds.
So now it is getting time for us to leave and finish up here. Pokhara has been our home for 5 weeks, and getting ready to go will be hard. But the weather is getting stormier, and there is usually rain everyday that is torrential when it hits. The lightning can be spectacular, and the thunder deafening - we were awoken by an immense thunder clap the other morning! But all the rain keeps the sky clear, so we have been having awesome Himalayan views with our morning cuppa in bed. However, the monsoon is approaching, and so it is probably best to get the f*** out while we still can!!!
That's all folks .......
.......
"There is no single act of greatness, just a series of small acts dome with great passion and love." (Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin)
No comments:
Post a Comment