Spinal Injuries Association of Malawi has trained people with spinal cord injuries and their caregivers on how they can manage their conditions and offer quality care to others.
Speaking on Saturday in Lilongwe at the close of a five-day peer-support training camp, the organisation’s co-founder and general secretary Scader Louis said they targeted those newly injured since they are physically and psychologically affected and often struggle to accept their situation.
She said: “With support from Disability Rights Fund, we organised this training to equip newly injured peers with skills to live independently in their communities and to be able to deal with secondary health complications.
“We have also provided them with practical mobility skills which they can use to transfer from the wheelchair to the bed and back.”
A caregiver, Judith Taombe, a teacher at Ludzi Girls Secondary School in Mchinji, said she acquired knowledge on how to take care of her husband who was injured in a road accident in 2019 after the car he was travelling in overturned in Thyolo.
She said: “As a caregiver, I have learnt how best I can take care of my husband while I also take care of myself. As a caregiver, you also have a right to life.
“Most importantly, I have gained new knowledge on how to manage and treat pressure sores without involving a medical practitioner.”
Mzimba-based Medai Chaula, who is as an accountant at St. John Bosco Secondary School, said the training was timely.
“We have more knowledge on independent living and I have gained several skills on how best I can use a wheelchair on my own,” he said.
During the workshop, the organisation’s peer trainer Chikumbutso Billy took the participants through bladder and bowel care, wheelchair skills, sexuality and disability rights
