Monday, October 15, 2018

Haiti Manual Therapy 2018: Travel Day and Exploration

Olivia and I enjoyed ourselves with great friends on Saturday as we watched 2 of our friends share vows in Annapolis, MD. Sadly the night was cut short and I headed to the airport for my trip to Haiti.

The flights went well and I landed in Haiti early afternoon. I forgot how nice it was to travel for 5 hours in the air and stay in the same time zone!

When I arrived I was greeted by a driver who helped grab my supplies. After we got my stuff to the car we waited for 5 other people. I learned on our drive to Leogane, Haiti. The group consists of 2 professors, 2 undergraduate students, and 1 master student. They are from the University of Notre Dame in the engineering field. This group is doing some great work to help with disaster response after storms and natural disasters. I learned so much from them and I am excited to learn more about their projects this week. I am always so humbled to realize how little I know about other fields of study and how much they can impact the world!




We arrived in Leogane at the school compound 2 hours later and were greeted by a very nice guest house and facility. After getting settled in, we had Pumpkin Soup for lunch and the students and I found the local beach. On the way we met a young man who educated us on the area. I really enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells as we walked the streets of this small coastal town.




For dinner we had a traditional rice and beans, chicken, and vegetable meal. After dinner I spent the night looking over material for my first day of teaching.

This week I will be teaching the Advanced Manual Therapy course for the 4th year physiotherapy students. The class has 7 students who have made it this far in the program! The degree is through the Episcopal University of Haiti (UNEPH) and the Physiotherapy/Occupational Therapy degree programs are under the Faculte des Sciences Rehabilitation d'Leogane (FSRL).



It has been a great learning opportunity creating the content for this course. I have had so much help from the instructor who taught the Musculoskeletal course earlier in their education, AJ and Aaron from SU, and my colleague Adam from the UIC Manual Therapy Fellowship. I can't believe it has all come together and the week of teaching begins tomorrow!

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