Portuguese therapists offer more healthcare professionals on the island of Sao Vicente in Cape Verde.

The Portuguese association group “Ser Mais Dar Mais, Terapeutas sem Fronteiras” warned this Friday of the need for a more specialized health workforce on the island of Sao Vicente in Cape Verde.

“From my perspective as a professional and a volunteer, I think that here in San Vicente it has a lot of structures, a lot of materials, installations and even equipment, but the feeling that it gives me being on this side is that this is a real lack of professional resources,” he said. Psychomotor therapist Rafaela Pereira, board member of Ser Mais Dar Mais, Terapeutas Sem Fronteiras, which is completing a mission on the island of San Vicente, north of the Cape Verde archipelago, this Friday.

This is the group’s seventh time on a mission to Cape Verde and they already have some idea of ​​the needs of Sao Vicente.

“There is a lack of specialized specialists in this area of ​​health and education, such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychomotorists, people specializing in teaching children with special educational needs, speech therapists,” said the director of three residential buildings for people with intellectual disabilities in Porto.

The mission, involving Cape Verde and Portugal, was divided into three phases: preparation, implementation on the ground and “post” with the construction and provision of tools according to the needs considered on the ground.

“We’re leaving this Friday [hoje]since our intervention is short term, usually up to a week and a half, we bring a program that is already defined from Portugal and from previous work done with partners, and then here it puts into practice what is already worked out and formulated,” he said.

However, the representative of the group emphasized that the mission does not end there, because upon their return to Portugal they will put into practice everything that remains to be done.

“Therefore, creating a brochure that we will create and send to children with special educational needs, we will also create a set of exercises and guides for schools, families and therapists who accompany them,” he predicted.

The Portuguese group in Cape Verde is made up of volunteers from different fields, including a doctor, a psychomotor therapist, a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist, a speech therapist and a human resources specialist.

In addition to San Vicente, a music therapist, a special education teacher, another professional psychotherapist and a psychomotor therapist traveled to the neighboring island of Santo Antao.

One of the volunteers is Diogo Calzada, a forensic specialist who works at the Guimarães hospital and monitors women victims of gender-based violence (GBV).

During this first mission to Cape Verde, it was an attribute to work on GBV with a wide audience and provide training in child care, with a pregnant woman who has given birth, and in the positioning of children with neurological disabilities.

“We found that here in Cape Verde we have very capable people, they work with few resources, but the few resources they have manage to reinvent themselves and give a very good response. From my point of view, it was a good surprise, I come for the first time, I was very pleased to see that they manage to give an answer,” he said.

However, as in other countries, he noted that Cape Verde was facing difficulties, mainly due to a lack of human and material resources.

“But they always have time to come and give an answer. Sometimes it even seems that I myself am learning, because I can bring new ideas, and here there is a lot of experience in this area, which is very good and positive.” “, said the doctor.

The Cape Verdean Women’s Organization, as well as the local health department, SOS villages, kindergartens and schools are just some of the locations the group has already arrived at.

The Portuguese Association intends to continue its work in Cape Verde and to attract more partners so that they can contribute more to this training and education work that they are doing in the country.