Dia de Fatima

When I first began my internship, I thought Toñito was absolute madness, but then I became used to it and adapted to the organized chaos. However, this week, we had so many new kids, it made my first week seem like a cake walk. I am literally run off my feet. I find it interesting the way the children are assessed and by how physio and other therapies are planned. For example, a new girl was admitted today who is autistic, however has no physical deficits whatsoever. Despite this, she was still put on a physical therapy regime (almost identical to most of the other patients) in order to maintain her current function. My training and experience would suggest that during rehabilitation of any kind, one would focus on what are the most important goals and leave tasks that the patient has mastered. However, this is just another example of the differences in cultures and methods of physiotherapy between Canada and Peru and I am forced to accept and adapt.

This Thursday was “Dia de Fatima”**(See explanation below) which meant that therapies ended early in order to gather together in prayer. Everyone came together in the courtyard and dutifully recited prayers in unison. It was just assumed that everyone attending the center is catholic and that the prayers would take precedence over the therapies. The culture and customs here are so strong and seem to take priority over all else. In Vancouver where all cultures reside and all religions and beliefs are present, an act such as praising god during a therapy session is far from the norm and could potentially be considered strange. For me, this dedication, unity and connectedness to religion, family and culture fosters an environment of togetherness and is ultimately therapeutic in its own way. Although the “meta” or therapy plans for each child stray from what we might recommend as North Americans, it is still therapeutic but in a different sense.

On the other end of the spectrum, when a child hates therapy and screams either in pain, discomfort or just for the sake of screaming, they are scolded (not comforted), called lazy (instead of encouraged) and sometimes restrained or forcefully coaxed into completing an activity. This is something that constantly bothers me and goes against my instincts; however I think it’s safe to say that children in North America are often coddled. I am in a constant internal battle within myself wondering which is right. Is this abusive or an extreme form of tough love?

The culture, customs and ways of Peruvians constantly keep me intrigued by highlighting the differences to what I have been brought up by in my own culture. Never a dull moment!

**As I am not Catholic myself, I had to look up what today was all about. Fatima is another word for the Virgen Mary and it is said that she had 3 secrets which were revealed to her in the form of visions that she described to one sole witness, Lucia who committed the revelation to paper and gave it to the pope. The first two secrets were related to hell and how to save souls from hell. I am confused about the third secret and if it was ever revealed, but for more info go to wikepedia.