Report from
Anita Pearson
- June 2005
Firstly to introduce myself - I am one
of the VSO volunteers working on the Community Based Rehabilitation Manual in
Namibia. I am the District Social Worker in Opuwo. I have been in Namibia for 15
months now and finding it to be a great experience.
My background is Disability and I have worked with both Barnardos and NCH
childrens charities in the UK. The work in Namibia is challenging and enjoyable
and with the training we are doing we are sharing some of our skills with
people. The CBR Training Manual will make such a difference by enabling local
people as well as future volunteers to train in the area of Disability. I hope
it will also ultimately benefit people with disabilities.
When I first came out here there was nothing to draw on for ideas and reference.
Books are a precious commodity and there is a real shortage of them. So having
to work without is a challenge in itself.
Work is developing nicely on the manual and I have just met with the other
Social Worker from Khorixas District. Our meeting was very productive in that we
were able to finalise a list of subject areas we will produce workshop material
on. This has a range of around twenty subject areas.
We have since returned to our respective placement areas and are busy in writing
up each area into workshop format. This is quite a challenge as you have to be
simplistically clear in the grammar and the use of complex words is to be
avoided. Much of this work will have to be translated at the time of training so
we have to keep in mind the need for translation. Many words we use in English
don’t exist in local languages hence the need for simplicity.
In terms of the medical side of rehabilitation, one of the physiotherapists has
recently spent a week over in Opuwo writing some of the physiotherapy aspects of
the training. I believe these aspects are still being agreed upon but they will
also cover a broad subject area.
The idea is to have both social and
medical input into the manual so that there is a balanced overview. Unlike
England, Namibia still sees disability very much from a medical perspective. We
feel that it is important to contribute to gradual change towards a more social
model and hence the balance.
All this keeps us very busy! We have a
deadline of the 4th July to deliver the manual in draft form to committee
members within the Ministry Of Health & Social Services. Let’s hope we meet this
positively. Limited resources such as no photocopy facilities, poor post, poor
email access, impractical venues and other constraints all add to the spice of
Namibia!
I will finish there and wish you well
with your work in England, my home country which I miss so dearly.
Your kindness in the support you are
providing is very much appreciated.
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