On Jan 5 we had the chance to tagging along with the University of Vermont students to the Center of Rehabilitation for the Paralyzed, located in Savar, about an hour drive from Uttara. And what a privilege it was.
The CRP was first established in 1979 by Valerie Taylor, a physiotherapist from the UK. She had originally signed up for a 15 month volunteer trip to Bangladesh and 43 years later she still remains. She had fallen in love with the country and had found her passion for helping spinal cord victims- individuals who would have otherwise been left to 'rot'. She opened the doors of the CRP with 4 beds in the city of Dhaka, in 1989 she moved it outside of the city and it has expanded ever since. 4 beds have grown to 100. It is a remarkable center, and her passion is the fuel that keeps it running. She was able to meet with us afterwards and share some of this passion- her presence brought immediate hope and excitement into the room, and her smile displayed her beautiful spirit. To meet someone so humble and hear about her extraordinary success story was a gift in itself.
And now a little about this beautiful center:
We will of course begin with the pediatric ward :)
The peds portion of CRP is divided into two services: Outpatient and Inpatient. The inpatient unit is comprised of 40 beds- originating from only 1! The unit is designed for children born with disabilities, primarily CP, to be admitted for two week segments with their mothers. For two weeks the team at CRP, including nurses, PT, OT, speech and language therapists, social workers, physicians, etc., work with the mother and child to teach basic and fundamental skills to manage and live with the condition. Each day is divided into different therapies that will help achieve this. For instance; 8-9: Hand therapy; 9-10: Feeding class; 10-11: Exercise; 11-12: Individual therapy; and more including hydro therapy, play therapy, speech class, stretching. There are also classes for mothers only on proper body mechanics- an essential skill needed to keep mothers safe as their child gets bigger.
Family therapy is also a focused area in the pediatric unit- in Bangladesh (and many other countries) mothers are often blamed for their child's disability, resulting in little to no support in caring for the child. Families are therefore integrated into the program to break this school of thought and promote education and a stronger support network.
Mothers are also taught to stand up for their children within society; they are taught and supported through ways that they can advocate for their children, such as their right to schooling. This particular piece has gained huge success over the last year- in 2011 7 children with CP were accepted into school in Sector 2 of Dhaka.
The outpatient unit functions on similar goals- to promote independence and growth. It is primarily used for those families who cannot stay for a full 2 weeks, or those who require only portions of the services. Appointments are 1 hour and CRP sees 15-20 per day... that is some tricky scheduling!!
We were able to meet a few of the kids and our hearts were so happy to see them! One boy had thick rimmed glasses- maybe he was 2 years old- and we taught him how to smack his lips, we just started doing it and he caught on right away... smartie pants ;)
CRP has several other units including a cervical spine injury unit- about 8 beds, for only cervical injuries- patients are placed in skull traction for 42 days- some are paralyzed and some recover almost fully with this treatment. The other spinal cord injury unit is 100 beds and is the ONLY SCI unit in all of Bangladesh- beds are sometimes added in the hallways to accommodate for overflow if needed.
They have stretcher bed wheelchair type devices for people who are only torso up- they lie on their stomachs and roll around in a bed with their hands as their motor- its brilliant! The receptionist is like this too! That is another amazing thing there- a significant portion of the staff are disabled- but disabled is not the right word to use because they are functioning no different than all of us!
We found so many parallels to what we experienced in Haiti. Many people there were wounded and suffered SCI from the earthquake. An area of the hospital was devoted to rehabilitation of these individuals. We learned that there was even a word in Creole meaning " worthless"- spoken of those with disabilities. But during their time in the hospital they were given extensive skills and training as tailors and seamstresses. Having a school uniform in Haiti is a big deal and quite prestigious. These men and women were then measuring school children for their uniforms and offering them these beautiful works of art- showing them that they are NOT worthless and they do have something to offer to society despite their disability.
Bangladesh is very much the same way. The stigma around mental and physical disability is huge let alone it's impact on that person and their family being able to survive. Having many many recovered patients as employees of CRP spoke volumes to us, and we're sure to the patients that come through the facility. It's encouraging to see the culture change.
The CRP also had it's own machine shop where they designed an built wheelchairs and a mirad of other devices used in the patients recovery. They had a Rickshaw on site in order to teach people how to get in and out post injury. A CNG (scary taxi cab... very scary) was built to be operated by hand, as one of the patients had lost his legs in an accident.
We were shown an area of "transition" housing where patients families were invited to come, stay and get a chance to trial what life back in the "real" world would be like. This way, if problems arise the therapist are right on hand to make adjustments before the final discharge.
And before we left we met a mouth painter who created stunning pieces of art. It's incredible what these people, who are fully paralyzed can do. Shows the strength of the human spirit.
It truly was such a joy to experience what's can happen with 1 persons vision followed by the devotion of medical professionals from around the world. Big things!
Hope you're enjoying our Blog.
Next time we'll fill you in on our teaching plans!
Ricki and Heidi xo
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