TRAINING and EDUCATING NATIONALS

3 weeks ago I got another round of students from Loma Linda Universities Rehab Technician Program in PAP for their 3rd level 2 rotations. They will be spending the next 3 months learning Pediatric Therapy under me at the Miriam Center. Their names are Yvon and Steve. Since Nicholson is off at Rehab Tech School now I was in need of new Therapy Assistant that could also help with translating with the students. Due to some miscommunication we ended up finding 2 possible assistants. Carlos (my Haitian Therapist) and Presidue (Haitian Director of the Miriam Center) Spent a week with both of them before I came in and thought they were both a good fit. I decided to hire them both for the 3 month period. They will be educated on everything I will be educating the Rehab Tech students on. They both just graduated high school from Sonlight Academy in PdP which is an english school. Their names are Mary Christy and She-She (this is his nickname ;-) So Really it is like having 4 students right now. It has been a bit challenging at times having that many but GREAT as well. I am excited for the next 3 months to teach, train, and guide these students into a deeper knowledge and understanding of Pediatric Therapy (OT, PT, ST). 

STEVE

YVON

Mary Christy

She-She

These first few  weeks have been very busy and mentally draining. I always forget how tiring it is to explain everything you do and why you do it. lol. It has also been challenging to create 6 schedules without overlapping kids and so the kids are in the right space with the right equipment they need to use during their therapy time and that I don’t schedule 2 kids that need the same equipment at the same time. The past 2 weekends I have spent hours working on schedules only to find out the next week that I need to tweak and change things for the next week. Hopefully soon I will get a finalized schedule :-) 

Before coming back into Haiti I made Resource Binders for each of the students full of handouts and resource materials that we will be working through over the next few months. We have education slots built into the schedule on Monday, Wednesday’s and Fridays. So far we have completed the following sections during our education slots…

~Putting on and Taking off AFO’s and Hand Braces- we start each morning (9:00-9:30) putting on each of the kids AFO’s and Braces.

~Massage, Stretching, Therapy Brushing- Then we head to Severe & Profound Preschool and stretch/massage/therapy brush/put on foot AFO’s & hand braces from 9:30-10:00. With the Miriam Home Mom’s helping all the kids get done!

~Sensory Integration Training- we spent an entire day learning about each of the sensory systems (Tactile, Proprioceptive, Vestibular, Auditory,  Olfactory, etc.) and how to determine what type of sensory problems kids have (Hyper-responsive, Under-responsive, Seeking, etc.). This information seemed new to EVERYONE so we spent a lot of time working through it. We then got kids from the Miriam Center with the various sensory issues and they problem solved while working with them to determine what their sensory deficits were. 

~Therapy Ball Training- They watched an NDT Therapy Ball training DVD and then we practiced with a variety of kids with different diagnosis’s at the Miriam Center and practiced the various techniques. They all learned it is much harder to do it than they thought from watching it!

~Adapted Chair Making- we spent an entire day making new chairs for some of the Miriam Home kids. Many of the chairs are in bad shape and we are in need of making new chairs. We tackled adapting 8 chairs on this day. Everyone worked very hard and learned all about adapting a Haitian chair with Foam and Ductape

~YOGARILLA- YOGA has many benefits including (It enhances physical Flexibility, improves low muscle tone, refines balance & coordination, develops motor skills and motor planning skills, develops focus and concentration, provides sensory input, helps calm the sympathetic nervous system, and strengthens respiratory muscles). YOGARILLA is a kid friendly version of YOGA that the kids enjoy doing as they look at pictures of a monkey doing the exercises with them. We have done YOGA with the Friday outreach kids as well as with some of the Miriam Center children. 

~Pediatric Theraband Strengthening- While at the National OT Convention in Nashville I met Francesca Avalli who created a fun Pediatric Theraband Program called Handee Band. She generously donated a copy of the book. This is the material I used to train the students with. The kids had so much fun doing the exercises. Jennifer one of my PT friends came the following week and educated the students on Lower Extremity Theraband Strengthening Activities. 

~Homevisits- We have been on home visits all 3 weeks on Tuesdays. This is a time in which we go to the outreach families homes. See where they live, work with the child in their home environment, meet their family, have a time of Bible Study and prayer with the family and just spend time with them. I have heard a few of the students say that this is their favorite time of the week. 

~Pediatric PT evaluation- We were blessed to have Jennifer a PT from KY who comes to Haiti each year come and educate on PT Evaluations, YOGA, Theraband, Goniometry Lower Extremities and PT educational Handouts. 

~Pediatric Physical Therapy Handouts

~NDT treatment on a child with hypertonicity of the extremities and Hypotonicity of the Trunk

Next week they will be learning hand splinting, have a time to educate some of the families on the outreach waiting list and possibly casting & Constraint Induced Movement Therapy.

On non-education slots they have a caseload of kids. They are getting to be hands on working with all the different Miriam Home children. Carlos and myself go around helping them treat the kids. They also help everyday from 1-3:00 with the outreach kids that come from the community. 

PLEASE be praying for the next few months. Pray that I can teach clearly, pray for the students to continue to be eager to learn, pray for energy/strength/health for all of us. Pray that when the 3 months is up that they will each have a comprehensive understanding and the ability to apply pediatric therapy to a variety of diagnosis. Pray that throughout their time at the Miriam Center they will see and feel the love of Jesus Christ Evident all around them!