Announcing an inspiring new DVD movie: Community-Based Rehabilitation Workshops in Peru

By Allison Akana and HealthWrights

In February, 2009. David Werner, pioneer in Primary Health Care and Community Based Rehabilitation—facilitated two workshops on innovative technology for and with disabled children and their families in Peru. On the first workshop, conducted in the poor barrios of Lima, David was joined by his former student and long time friend, Allison Akana, a Physician’s Assistant and researcher in women’s health.

Allison skillfully and perceptively filmed the entire workshop. She did a superlative job capturing both the technical and human sides of the event: everything from the logistics and planning, to the vibrant group dynamics, to the incredible spirit and energy of all involved. The film highlights how the disabled children themselves, as part of a team that included their families and CBR workers, took an active part in designing and creating the simple assistive devices that would allow them function better and feel more included in their homes and communities.

This beautiful film is a valuable educational tool. The DVD will be a great help to planers and facilitators of hands-on CBR workshops. In an easy-going manner it portrays each stage: from the introductory seminar on Participatory Community Rehabilitation, to the small-group visits in the homes of the disabled children, to the teamwork of designing simple assistive equipment for each child, to the intense final day where the 8 different groups worked collectively to create the devices they designed. In the grand finale each child demonstrated how well (or sometimes, not so well) the equipment made in the workshop worked for him or her. Everyone learned from both from their successes and their mistakes.

Available on DVD in PAL (for Europe and much of Africa and Asia) and NTSC (for the Americas). In English, 28 minutes long.

For other CDs on David Werner’s hands-on Assistive Technology Workshops in Community Based Rehabilitation in Latin America and India, see our website.

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