WOW! That's all I can say!

You have been incredible.

It is not even December yet, and we have already surpassed our initial goal of $5,000.

We are deeply grateful.

That said, this doesn't mean an additional donation isn't going to help us. If we can raise another $5,000 then we have all the medical supplies, fuel and maintenance for the motorbikes for 1 year funded as well.

Do you think we can make it before Christmas?

I believe in you.

Fuel, medical supplies and maintenance of the two motorbikes costs AUD $5,000 each year.

This will enable us to deliver quality healthcare to children, people with disabilities and the elderly within our communities. People, who otherwise wouldn’t receive any healthcare.

You can read more about how our outreach project is changing lives here:

Thank you

Nina

P.S.

Please share this with your friends, in a post, in an email.

Hold a bake-sale, charity dinner, or raise money at your office or school.

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Neema defies paralysis thanks to Cedar Tanzania

What would you do?

Have you ever imagined what your life would look like if an accident was going to happen to you? Would you have the strength to keep going on?

Neema surely has. Seven years ago, Neema went to one of the larger regional hospitals to get treatment for typhoid. Unfortunately, Neema experienced nerve damage during her treatment and lost most of the mobility in her legs.

Neema is now 31 years old and lives with her parents. She relies on their help for all her basic needs. Neema also has three younger siblings who all still go to school.

Being dependent of her parents has had a huge impact on Neema’s mental health. She has been struggling with depression and feelings of being a burden to her family. As the family already lives in poverty having a member of the family not able to contribute financially is a huge strain. On top of that, there are all Neema’s extra medical bills.

Finding Neema

Our Outreach Team met Neema in 2019 and has since been working in close partnership with her and her family. This free service has provided Neema with a variety of treatment options for both her physical and mental health. 

With the help of our team, Neema has regained some movement in her legs and has literally taken her first few steps towards independence.

It is Neema’s desire to get to a point where she can support herself and contribute to her family. She is grateful to her family, particularly her parents, for the support they have given her through the difficulty times she has encountered. She hopes she one day will be able to return the kindness she has received.

A new beginning

Neema is excited to start our entrepreneurial training.

She says “I have some basic knowledge on sewing. I learnt a while ago before I suffered from paralysis, and I am confident that I can regain some skills if I will get the opportunity to practice again. It is something am interested about and something I am capable of doing”.

According to Neema’s physiotherapist, the tailoring training will help Neema to re-gain her sewing skills and hopefully help her to earn an income. It will empower and strengthen her emotionally, mentally, and physically. Sewing provides an opportunity to rebuild physical strength and this project also provides her with an opportunity to be surrounded by others who are facing similar challenges. 

What is typhoid?

Typhoid is a bacterial disease spread through dirty water and can be life-threatening if not treated. 

The residents of Nyamatongo Ward do not have access to treated water. The only water source is water collected from the lake. With no sewage systems in place, long-drops or open defecation is the norm and is naturally led to the water. Typhoid, and other waterborne diseases are very common in the area.

In fact, diarrhea, which is often caused by typhoid, is the biggest cause of death for children under five.

Can you help Neema and people like her?

Will you give a tax-deductible gift to help Neema and others like her become agents of change in their communities? 

Your gift can pay for training, material and sewing machines to help people with disabilities learn income-generating skills and challenge social stigma.

Changing Lives begins with you. We can’t do it without you.

The dangers of not knowing

Ayo*, a local fisherman living in Nyamatongo Ward, never knew he had high blood pressure. He recently suffered a stroke that has left him with loss of motor skills on his left side as well as issues with his balance. This means he can no longer work to support his wife and four children. In Tanzania, there are no social services or payments to access when you are unable to work. To avoid the devastating consequences of this family falling further into severe poverty it is of utmost urgency Ayo regains his ability to earn money as quickly as possible.

Life after a stroke is never easy. That becomes even more apparent when you are living in a rural setting without many of the services and aids many of us take for granted.

Cedar Tanzania’s outreach team was introduced to Ayo in April this year, and has since worked closely with both him and the rest of his family. It was only during their initial assessment Ayo found out he has high blood pressure which is likely to have caused his stroke. Ayo now receives treatment in form of regular occupational therapy and medication. To make sure Ayo recovers, it is important everyone in the family understands the importance of the exercises Ayo needs to do as well as the importance of the medication to lower his blood pressure.

Dr Daniel Ndamo, Cedar Tanzania’s Occupational Therapist, has developed a programme for Ayo to follow and regularly checks in on him to see how he is progressing and if any adjustments are needed. Dr Ndamo has also created occupational therapy aids from recycled materials to make sure they are affordable and easily accessible for residents like Ayo.

Living in a rural setting creates many problems in situations like those Ayo is facing. One of them is using the toilet. Only squatting toilets are available throughout the Nyamatongo Ward and Ayo has difficulties using these without assistance and in privacy. Dr Ndamo has been able to provide aids and advice to the family on how best to support Ayo enabling him to perform personal hygiene independently and with decency.

* Name changed for privacy

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Thinking Outside the (Cardboard) Box

When we talk about our community based rehabilitation outreach programme  for people with disabilities, we often mention the provision of Occupational Therapy services alongside medical services.

But what is Occupational Therapy exactly? In the words of our Occupational Therapist, Daniel: “Occupational Therapy is a client-centred approach which is focused on the promotion of the health and well-being through meaningful and purposeful activities that are age and gender appropriate as well as culturally accepted”.

Even in most Western countries, Occupational Therapy is not something that is widely known. Here in Tanzania, where many people don’t even have access to very basic healthcare services, you hardly find a person who has heard of Occupational Therapy let alone is familiar with the practice.

There is only one university in the whole country that offers studies to become an Occupational Therapist and in 2019, Daniel’s graduation year, there were only 30 students.

Apart from the service and its health benefits being rather unknown, another challenge Tanzanian Occupational Therapists struggle with is the procurement of specialised equipment. Not only is it hard to find, but once sourced, it can also be really expensive.

To bridge this gap, Daniel got creative! It is really impressive what you can do with a little cardboard and a utility knife – but see for yourself what he has crafted!

Occupational Therapist Daniel explains below his innovative use of everyday materials to aid patients regain movement.

The Puzzle

The beloved children’s game can function as OT equipment. Daniel is presenting us a puzzle made out of cardboard for his youngest patients. It improves the children’s shape identification and problem-solving skills and further enhances their motor and coordination skills.

The Range of motion Arc

This interesting looking therapeutic equipment uses a bio-mechanical approach. It promotes and improves the range of motion of the patient’s shoulder, elbow, wrist and joint and is used in all cases where the range of motion of the upper extremities is limited, for example due to a stroke, burn or head injury.

Lid Activity

The lids are used to practice and improve grasping skills, hand-eye coordination and range of motion by opening and closing the lid. It is used for all cases in which the patient shows a limited hand function and, with practice, helps them to perform activities of the daily life such as opening and closing windows and doors or – you guessed it – bottles.

In case you got curious and want to see more of the equipment Daniel and the team have crafted, check out how he created a device for mirror therapy .

Act now to support us further.

Thank you.

Get to know Our Team

This is Daniel Samwel, our Occupational Therapist. Daniel is passionate about his job and we enjoy working with him. The people of Nyamatongo Ward benefits from his creative solutions to provide Occupation therapy that is accessible and affordable.

The Magic of Mirror Therapy

Access to rehabilitation services has not been a priority in Eastern Africa, but things are slowly changing. I have been working with The Cedar Foundation Tanzania in the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) project for several months now. Most families cannot afford to buy therapy equipment. So as an occupational therapy practitioner in the villages of Nyamatongo ward, my main challenge is to bring affordable therapy to the village level. One way I do this is by adapting local materials, such as rocks, sand, mirrors and boxes, to make equipment that can be used for therapy. And my vision for the Community Based Rehabilitation project is to promote the use of adapted therapeutic equipment for the benefit of my patients in order to give them the highest chance possible to retain their existing skills and to develop new skills too. In this way the patients will increase their daily activities and therefore enhance their levels of independence in the community.

As part of the outreach program I encountered Issa* - a 59 year old male patient, who had sustained a right hemiplegic stroke in 2016 (paralysis of the muscles of the lower face, arm, and leg on one side of the body), due to hypertension. On our first meeting, I conducted an initial assessment and found that Issa had contracture in his right arm due to being in a flexion pattern for such a long time. The right hand had grade 1 muscle strength and the motor skills were all intact (both fine and gross motor skills). His cognitive and sensory abilities were all fine with the exception of his vestibular system (the sensory system that provides the leading contribution to the sense of balance and spatial orientation for the purpose of coordinating movement with balance.), which was weak and thus affected his balance. My two month objectives with the patient were the following;

• To achieve full passive range of motion to the affected arm

• To increase muscle strength and to activate motor skills to the affected arm

At the end of one month’s therapy, the patient was able to achieve full range of motion passively, without experiencing pain. It was at this stage that we introduced the Mirror Therapy box, for motor activation. I had designed and constructed the mirror box by using local materials. I found that the patient really enjoyed this therapy, and soon began to improve in his fine motor skills in the affected arm.

MIRROR THERAPY EXPLAINED

The mirror therapy theory is the use of a mirror to create a reflective illusion of an affected limb in order to trick the brain into thinking movement has occurred to the affected limb. It involves placing the affected limb behind a mirror, which is sited so the reflection of the opposing limb appears in place of the hidden limb’ says G. Moseley.

A mirror box is a device that gives opportunities to the therapist to easily create this illusion. It is a box with one mirror in the centre where on each side of it, the hands are placed in a manner that the affected limb is kept covered always and the unaffected limb is kept on the other side whose reflection can be seen on the mirror. The activities that are mirrored are those performed by my patients in their daily lives, for example writing, grooming, eating and even catching a ball.  

This theory is based on the neuro-plasticity mechanism/principle. It activates the brain’s mirror neurons, to create a mind illusion that then activates the motor ability of the patient’s missing limb and aids in pain management.

The patients that benefit most from this technique are those who have had amputations. This technique has been found to reduce phantom pain sensations in amputees. Stroke patients also benefit greatly from the mirror technique to reactivate motor skills.

Take Action and be part of the drive to bring occupational therapy to Nyamatongo Ward.

* For privacy, the name Issa has been used but it is not the patients real name.

by Daniel Samwel, Occupational Therapist, Cedar Tanzania.

Jackie and Neema's adventures

Jackie is a Community Based Rehabilitation Field Officer. Together with Neema, the clinical officer, they travel from Kamanga Health Centre to the neighbouring villages of Kamanga on their trusted motor bikes. Watch the latest episode of their adventures!
Watch Jackie and Neema as they do their rounds in the village of Kamanga as part of Cedar Tanzania's Community Based Rehabilitation program, to bring care to people with disabilities.