Osteopathy Helps Villagers in Kenya: An OBC member’s volunteer experience
There are only a few osteopaths* in Africa, as for example in Kenya there are four. Luckily one of them introduced osteopathy into charitable Medical Expeditions to villages that lack regular access to medical care. The charity is called Divinity Foundation (not associated with any church) and is led by the British-Kenyan citizen Navdeep “Nav” Matharu.
I participated in two such expeditions and was amazed by the amount of help provided, and by the amount of kindness offered to one another during the two-week time. Usually, the expedition consists of a volunteering team of Kenyan medical doctors, foreign osteopaths** and a support group. Help is provided mainly to women and children who first go through a medical evaluation and are prescribed medications. In some cases, they are referred to the temporary osteopathic clinic which can be situated in the outpatient hospitals, schools or sometimes it is setup under the trees when in a remote area. Usually, there are 10 osteopaths on board who come from either a European country or a North American one.
OsteopathyBC has developed some fantastic looking Osteopathic Brochures. These are available to order. Members receive special member pricing but they are available for non members too.
The word osteopathy originates from the two Greek words “osteone,” which means structure, and “pathos,” which means pain. Osteopathic treatment is based on the concept that the structure of the body affects how it will function and that it functions as a unified whole. In other words, if there is a problem or restriction in one part of the body, then all the other parts are affected in some way and often there is pain. Osteopathy uses gentle, manual techniques to release these restrictions so normal function can ensue and the pain is decreased or eliminated.