Community Visits

Today we drove about an hour to two different villages to work with patients who otherwise may not have been able to be seen at chidamoyo hospital. We brought Brighton (the rehab tech), Makaza (the driver), four yoga mats, and some therapy toys. At the first village we set up camp on the floor of a classroom at the school. The second village welcomed us in the shade of a tree in the field and we set up the mats on the floor to treat. At both locations we saw all ages and a myriad of conditions. Diagnosis included: cerebral palsy, speech disorder, delayed motor development, speech disorders, hydrocephalus, HIV, developmental delays, burns, and orthopedic conditions. Some of these conditions were outside of scope of practice and so we worked with Brighton to refer to other providers or organizations.

 A young girl with L elbow burn contractures. We taught her self scar massage and stretching techniques. you can see Anne and Kendra working hard in the background. 

 A photo with the village healthcare workers of the nearby villages. 

Brighton mentioned that the community visits are particularly valuable for children with disabilities because often the families are hesitant to bring the children in to seek traditional care due to stigmas, and that the community visits  allow children to be treated in the environment where they and their families feel most comfortable,  and provide awareness education to reduce the stigma.

At the second village, we set up yoga mats under a tree and treated patients there. Only a few spiders visited...

After returning from a full day of community visits we finished up the day in the hospital treating 5 more patients. Overall it was a successful and exhausting day.

 Chidamoyo Christian Hospital with Brighton, the Rehab Technician.

Kendra teaching this mother exercises to help her daughter begin rolling and crawling. She is using the therapy doll to demonstrate because this little girl was very shy. 

First Day at Chidamoyo Hospital

We arrived last night, and received a warm welcome from Kathy, our host and the nurse practitioner at the Chidamoyo Christian Hospital. She featured us on her blog! Click the link for more photos and learn more about her work in Zim.

Today was our first day working at the Hospital, which means it is time for our first blog post! These next two weeks, we will be volunteering in the outpatient rehabilitation clinic and inpatient units of the hospital, as well as doing community visits, and providing educational presentations. Brighton is Chidamoyo's therapist and provides speech, physical, and occupational therapy to the patients, so we will be working closely with him all week. The outpatient clinic serves patients of all ages, with varied needs, and who come from many different locations to be seen. There are no specific appointment times for patients, which means the patients could wait hours to be seen. It also means that at times we could have five patients waiting at once. Also of note is that if a patient cannot afford their care, they can negotiate and pay for services with what they do have, such as grain or eggs.

In the hospital there is also a house designated for expecting mothers where mothers can stay (sometimes for weeks) while they wait to give birth. We are already planning our first presentation- it will be to educate these mothers, and other healthcare workers in the nearby villages, about motor milestones and how to know if and when they should bring their child back in to be seen at the hospital. We think this is important since Brighton tells us it is common for children to not get diagnosed and treated for developmental disorders like Cerebral  Palsy until 1-2 years old. 

Today we spent the morning getting oriented to the hospital, treating one orthopedic shoulder injury, and showing Brighton the materials we brought him. These included toys for therapy use, orthotics, exercise sheets, and schematic drawings he can use to build different therapeutic equipment. Then in the afternoon we were busy removing 3 casts and a splint. It was a new experience to use the cast saw for us! It looks and sounds dangerous but it cuts the cast with vibrations that would be difficult to cut skin. Try convincing a 6 year old of that though! (Hint: toys work well as bribes). Next, we learned how to make plaster casts and we applied one for a medial malleollus fracture and another for a distal radius. 

Our daily walk up to the hospital. 

Removing a cast- my first time with a cast drill! It was nerve wracking for me, and the lady too I imagine :)

This little boy earned a small toy as a reward for being so brave!

Lastly, to add to a very full day already, we learned several words in Shona! 

Yes-ehe

No-aiwa

Thank you-tatenda

Pain-kirwadzu

Also, please excuse our typos- this is all created on an iPhone 5. 

Blog Authors:

Anne Ziegltrum and Kaeli Gockel

S.P.T.s, University of Washington, Department of Rehabilitation

Global Rehabilitation Organization Washington (G.R.O.W.)