Strengthening Partnerships

In Niger, there is one physiotherapy training program for the entire country (compared to five just in the province of Ontario, Canada).  Until recently, all students had to complete their practicums in government hospitals.  This meant that when our own Sama’ila (Samuel) was completing his training, he could not rejoin our team during these times of internship.  In the past two years, however, administrative staff from the school (ESPAS) came to visit Danja.  They were very impressed by our centres and how we serve very different populations than the government hospitals (in particular, those with large or chronic wounds, and those with obstetric fistulas).  Since that visit, the two institutions have been working on developing a partnership.  In February, Michelle and Sama’ila taught a 10 hour module on pelvic floor therapy for the Masters level students in Niamey.  In March-April, our therapy department hosted a total of five students from the bacherlor’s level of the same program.  It is exciting to be building into the lives of this next generation of health care professionals.