Motivation Australia was delighted to work directly with our partners in Timor Leste, the National Centre for Rehabilitation (CNR), to deliver basic level wheelchair service delivery training for four technical staff and eight clinical staff.
The training, delivered early May 2016, was co-funded by Motivation Australia and LDS Charities. Motivation Australia consultants, Andrew Congdon (Occupational Therapist) and Andrew Rose (Rehabilitation Engineer) delivered the training over eight days, using the WHO Wheelchair Service Training Package – Basic Level, as well as some additional material developed by Motivation Australia to cover the types of wheelchairs that our partners most commonly use. The training included a mix of theoretical and practical sessions, with nine wheelchair users attending the training to provide participants with an excellent opportunity to practice their skills in wheelchair assessment, prescription, fitting and user training.
This in-country visit was also an opportunity to discuss CNR’s current wheelchair services with the management team, including Executive Director Veronica das Dores, Clinical Programme Director Nazario da Silva, and Administrative and Logistics Director Alexandre Morais. Training observations and service development recommendations were discussed in further detail at the conclusion of training with Nazario da Silva, Angelito Cacerres, Workshop Manager, and Tomas Oqui, Senior Physiotherapist.
Motivation Australia and CNR have a long history of working together, and plan to continue our collaboration to help improve the rehabilitation services available for people with a disability in Timor Leste.