Academics
Christian Blind Mission and KHI trained physiotherapists
A three day workshop on Special Seating has been concluded this Wednesday, the 4th November 2009 in KHI auditorium. The workshop was organized by CBM in collaboration with KHI physiotherapy department.
The goal of this workshop as, Mr. Manu Van Dyck, Advisor Orthopaedic Technology in CBM (Christian Blind Mission) said, was to equip the participants with skills on how to handle and assist children with disabilities, especially children with celebro palsy disabilities that impede their motor and physical capacity. The workshop’s objective was to recognize that problem and look for the appropriate seating comfortable and conducive for them. The trainers were specialists in physiotherapy, occupational therapists and orthopedist doctors from Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, South Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo. The participants were people from hospitals and health centers who deal with children with disabilities from Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, DRC, and Burundi.
In our conversation with Manu Van Dyck, he explained to us what CBM is and their mission:
“Christian Blind Mission is a Christian humanitarian organization aiming to improve the lives of people with disabilities. We started serving the blind and later turned to other people with disabilities. Our mission has been focused on preventing and curing blindness but nowadays we cover also other causes of disability. CBM also runs education and rehabilitation programs of peoples with disabilities helping them to access to basic healthcare.”
The participants revealed to us that the training was mainly based on neurological troubles that may affect the motor and physical movement of the child. The focus was put on individuals with spastic cerebral palsy. They practiced on different chairs that help those children with that disability, examining which chair is appropriate to a child according to the size, and gravity of his/her problem.
They hailed C.B.M’s efforts in building the capacity building of the professionals dealing with disabilities because this will improve special education in Rwanda.
Manu Van Dyck informed to us that they are in the process of starting a Department of Occupational Therapy in KHI in 2012. He told us that CBM operates in Gikondo special education site and at Gahini in Eastern province.
Let us remind that CBM was founded in 1908 by the Germany pastor Ernst Jacob Christoffel, who built homes for orphans, physically disabled, and deaf persons in Turkey, and Iran.
