Adeus Dili, Hello Australia!

As we sit in Darwin airport, we finally have the time to reflect on the past 4 weeks of non-stop therapy and activities. After a fast-paced last week, it is hard to believe this placement and inter-cultural experience has come to an end. All teams were up late into most nights creating resources and presentations in Tetun – it was a long process to brainstorm, gather materials, construct, type in English, and translate. We then had many laughs with the CNR staff while they generously helped us check our Tetun translations!

This was also a nostalgic week, as we knew that each day would be our final time in the Speech room, the Physio room, the OT room, and with the Community Based Rehab team. Each session reflected the culmination of all our experiences, combining our inter-professional ways of thinking with the CNR staff to deliver therapy together. Throughout this placement, the process of sharing our health and cultural perspectives has provided everyone, both students and staff, with more ideas to expand our practices. In Australia, we will always remember how our friends at CNR are able to deliver effective therapy with limited resources and we hope that the resources and ideas that we have shared stay with the CNR staff.

One such occasion was when we travelled just outside Dili to Hera on Wednesday morning. There, our whole team joined in the weekly gathering of people of all ages and abilities to participate in group therapy and to promote inclusive communities. This was the fourth week UQ students had been involved in running activities. A highlight was seeing the local volunteering university students continue similar activities after we had finished our program.

It was hard to believe Thursday afternoon was all of our teams’ final therapy session and we were reluctant to leave. However, we were excited to attend the Australian Ambassador’s reception, representing UQ as invited guests. This was a great chance celebrate the New Colombo Plan, to meet other professionals working in Health in Timor-Leste, and enjoy many delicious canapés. We put work out of our minds for the night but this was short-lived as we needed finalise our presentations when we arrived home. All the effort was worth it on Friday when each group presented their topic to the CNR staff and the whole room was full of lively discussion. One of the staff members thanked our IP team for ‘a great presentation’ in the morning tea afterwards.

Our final night was celebrated by Paulo and his family inviting us to dinner in a beautiful beach-front restaurant. In this good company, with many memories and experiences to take home, we watched the sun set on our time in Timor-Leste.

Almost time to say Adeus

COUNTRY: Timor Leste
PROGRAM: Faculty Placement
PROJECT: Health Science
WRITTEN BY: Nicola Brickness, Maathangi Karunaharan & Maddie Pan

Bondia!

So here we are at the end of our third week living in Dili, and we can’t believe how fast our time has gone! The CNR staff greet us everyday like old friends, and our relationships with our clients are growing. It’s sad knowing that we are going into our last week and will have to say goodbye soon.

Its been a busy week as each inter-professional team has been working hard on projects ranging from modified utensils to wheelchair arm supports. Additionally, we are each presenting educational workshops on our last day at CNR to handover valuable experience and information to all staff. A lot of preparation has been going into developing these workshops and creating resources that can be used by all departments within the centre. This also includes designing culturally appropriate handouts and posters that can be distributed to the rural communities and centres that the Community Based Rehabilitation team visits weekly. These resources can be used well into the future, even after our time here has finished!

It’s been an eye-opening experience getting the opportunity to work with an array of clients who present with such varying conditions. Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder and post-stroke patients are just a few of the common presentations we have been seeing. Having exposure to such a wide range of clinical and cultural experiences has definitely seen us develop both professionally and personally. We know we still have so much to learn as we come into our final week at CNR.

To finish the week, we visited a community medical clinic in Hera. It was here that we met the practicing doctor and traditional midwife who work to provide health promotion and community livelihood projects to the local people. We were so fortunate to have a tour of the centre and have our many questions answered. We learnt so much about how health care is provided and the cultural values that underpin these services.

As it was our final weekend in Timor-Leste, we made our way over to Atauro Island! We had a relaxing weekend of snorkeling on the coral reef, sleeping under the stars and swimming at sunrise. To top it off, the food was amazing! At 5:30pm, 3 giant Trevally’s were caught and by 7pm, were on our dinner plates, YUM! The group also travelled on tuk tuk’s to Hospideria Faca where we got to see the most amazing handiwork in the process of being sewn, stitched and woven by the local women’s cooperative. It’s safe to say that many bags and trinkets were purchased! While we fit a lot into our short time on Atauro Island, we left feeling refreshed and ready to head into our final week in Timor-Leste.

Adeus!

Working Life in Timor-Leste

COUNTRY: Timor Leste
PROGRAM: Faculty Placement
PROJECT: Health Science
WRITTEN BY: Conor Rock, Rebecca Parker and Jantje Lezius

Botardi! (Good Day!)

This week, UQ students further connected with CNR staff which resulted in joint plans for a weekend outing with one of our favourite staff members, Physiotherapist Tomas. We are also embracing the inter-professional nature of our teams, thus optimising client outcomes. Whilst still a challenge, the language barrier is slowly disintegrating with the help and support of CNR staff, as well as exploring creative ways to communicate, such as using Tetun songs and music to engage and motivate our clients. We spend one day a week in each department, Speech Therapy, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, and use our teamwork to holistically treat children and adults with a variety of conditions.

Every day, one team gets the opportunity to be a part of the Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) team within CNR. Each team of students from Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy travel to a client’s home with an educator and members of the CBR team. There is no greater insight into a patient’s life than sitting in their home or on their front porch. Although sometimes the situation was somewhat confronting, our hearts were warmed by the friendliness, humility and grace shown by the clients and their families for our help, as simple as it sometimes seemed to us. It’s very rewarding to be able to try and improve the lives of those who may not be able to get to the CNR clinic.

We started the long weekend on Independence Day Friday by visiting the Santa Cruz cemetery which was made infamous by the massacre in 1991. After lunch, we sampled the local gelato and some of the group headed to the Taise Markets on the way home where we bought lots of bags and other items that featured traditional Timorese weaving and craftsmanship.

In the afternoon, we went to visit the sacred place where Timor-Leste’s independence was declared at a midnight mass on the 20 May 2002. Pope John Paul II congratulated Timor-Leste on joining the list of “the free nations of the earth” and urged the nation’s people to use their new freedom to build a just and peaceful society. As a result, a statue was constructed on top of a nearby mountain in order to pay respect to the Pope, which we climbed that afternoon and enjoyed scenic views over Dili.

On Saturday, our friendly CNR host for the day kindly took us to our first stop Liquica, a tourist beach. We enjoyed the day playing beach sports and swimming, which was complimented by a hearty picnic lunch of fish and local veggie sandwiches. In the afternoon, we went to Maubara, a local beach where we quickly made new friends: local children, who joined us in our beachside play. We showed them some English songs (e.g.,Hokey Pokey as well as Heads, shoulders, knees and toes) in exchange for some new Tetum songs which we all performed together. Children and students enjoyed playing grip ball, marbles, clapping and ball games as the afternoon seemed to fly by. We left them with gifts so the fun would not stop when we left. We had made our own community for the afternoon, then and there on the beach in Maubara.

It’s hard to believe that we are half way through our trip, but it is safe to say that we are continuously learning more about ourselves and Timor-Leste.

Bondia Timor Leste

COUNTRY: Timor Leste
PROGRAM: Faculty Placement
PROJECT: Health Science
WRITTEN BY: UQ Health Science Team

Bondia!

As we all gathered in the airport, the feeling within the team was filled to the brim with excitement and anticipation of what was to come in Timor-Leste. Our first glimpse from the plane was of the mountainous landscape and beautiful coral sea. As we stepped onto the tarmac we were hit by the wave of heat and humidity. We were greeted by Paulo and were quickly guided to the local form of public transport – a mikrolet.

Our first few days were spent exploring the local Dili sights and learning about the country’s rich history. A highlight included hiking up to Cristo Rei, where we were rewarded with a 360 degree view of Dili. Our hike was followed by a nice swim at a nearby beach, a chance to interact with the local people and practice our Tetun. The Resistance Museum provided us with a chance to learn about and understand the country’s past challenges and gave us an insight into how they overcame adversity.

The team was warmly welcomed by the Centre of National Rehabilitation (CNR) staff whom we would be working alongside for the next 4 weeks. We were impressed by their facilities and resources and the staff’s eagerness to learn more from us as well as us learning from them. Our first day of placement took us out of the busy streets of Dili and into the countryside where we met children and their families at the local rehabilitation centre. Our language learning was fast tracked by being thrown into the deep end as we needed to communicate and connect with both the CNR staff and our clients. This was challenging but we always had a good laugh together over our language mistakes. Throughout the week, we had a chance to work with CNR staff from each of the professions in our interprofessional teams and it has been a great learning experience so far. The week flew by and we had our first weekend exploring Timor’s natural beauty.

This took us to Mt Ramelau, the highest point in Timor. We woke up at 2am to make it to the top by sunrise and it was an experience we will never forget. We are excited to see what the next 3 weeks holds for the team both at CNR and on the weekends.

Until next time, adeus!