Lending a hand in Kenya

She only knows that every day will be different and that her work will benefit the residents of Kitere, the village three hours west of Kitsuma where she will be staying.

And she knows for sure that the skills she acquires will allow her to treat her local patients more effectively.

“There are so many people [in Kenya] that need services, and not enough clinicians to provide them,” said Lecker, a 27-year-old Westmount resident. “Any help they can get will be beneficial to them, and it can only help my practice here, in Canada, as well.

Lecker, who holds a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from McMaster University, has been with the MAB-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre for two and a half years. Occupational therapy aims to teach people with disabilities—physical and cognitive alike—skills that will allow them to lead fuller, more functional lives. In Kenya, this will entail working in clinics set up by the Kenya Working Group, and visiting people in their homes in outlying communities.

“A lot of these people need surgeries—for example, they may have a club foot or they need some sort of surgery related to a bone deformity or a burn they’ve received,” said Lecker. “Surgery is absolutely essential, but after the surgery there needs to be some sort of therapy to ensure that the surgery is successful.”

Accompanying Lecker will be Michèle Gardiner, 31, a rehab team coordinator at MAB-Mackay. “A lot of (our work) will be assessing the needs of the population, setting up training sessions, setting up clinics, facilitating surgery, providing help after surgery,” said Gardiner.

Home visits, Lecker said, are reserved for those with limited mobility. “They can’t feed themselves, they can’t dress themselves,” she said.

But to teach people to be autonomous, equipment is often required, so Lecker and Gardiner hope to bring equipment to Kenya, “and also to show some local technicians, or local workmen, how to make the equipment that we have here in Canada that they don’t have there yet.”

They will also work in schools, helping children with congenital disabilities learn to operate in a classroom setting.

Christine Boyle, executive director of MAB-Mackay, supports Lecker and Gardiner’s endeavour. “I think it’s in everyone’s interests to have their horizons broadened,” said Boyle. “I also believe—and it’s one of our core values—that as we support our staff, they in turn provide even better services to our clients.”

Lecker agrees. She thinks that working with limited resources will compel her and her colleagues to create innovative treatment regimens for their patients. “I look forward to learning about different diagnoses,” she said. And she anticipates applying her newfound skills at MAB-Mackay.

“I think just in terms of working in an environment with which you’re not familiar, you have to be flexible, you have to be adaptable, you have to work in a new team environment—all of that is good for the team setting that we work in here in Montreal.”

For information on the Kenya Working Group, visit www.kenyaworkinggroup.org. To contribute to Emily Lecker and Michele Gardiner’s trip please send donations to:

The Mackay Rehabilitation Centre Foundation

3500 Décarie Boulevard, Montreal, Qc. H4A 3J5