Going to Raphael was a decision made easy due to the endless praise it receives from anyone who is lucky enough to visit. As a physiotherapist I had been working in a hospital setting for two years and Raphael was the perfect opportunity to help grow my skills as well as use what I had learned to help out those who don’t have such an abundant supply of health resources.

I arrived in Raphael late at night after a long journey from Delhi. Expecting to just pick up some keys and fall into bed I instead found the cook had been waiting up for me, going forward and back from his house to check when I arrived so he could make sure I got dinner. This was the first example of a selfless desire to help which became a common trait in everyone I met working at Raphael. This gives reason to why I believe Raphael is so successful in making such positive progress in each one of its kids.

My arrival turned out to come at a perfect time. They had had a physio resign a month before, and even though Megha, the head physio, was doing a fantastic job running the ship solo, the amount of work that could be done was endless. My work at Raphael primarily involved doing daily physio sessions and making treatment plans for the physically disabled kids in the school. With most of the kids having a Cerebral Palsy presentation, our work focused on increasing their independence with activities of daily living, thus enabling them to participate more with their family, friends and within the community. Although my physio -Hindi wasn’t as fluent as would be ideal, the amount you can do for these kids is amazing and to see the amount Megha and the teachers have already done for them is mind boggling. In the short three months I was there, the progress I was able to see was fantastic. The kids, although challenging, were incredibly fun to work with and you could ultimately see the added quality of life these kids were receiving from Raphael.

I was also lucky enough to be the physio to go on the community – based rehab program. This was one of the highlights of my time in India. Stretching out to the rural suburbs of Dehradun you get a whole new appreciation of Indian communities.

We were welcomed in to numerous homes to assess and make early intervention plans for their young children. The appreciation from the families really helps you to understand how valuable this is to them who mostly, until now, had received little information on how to cope with a disabled child.

As much as you are able to help out during your time in Raphael, Raphael also gives you a whole new set of skills and growth that you didn’t realise you needed until you got there. As a physio, my job varied from looking after early intervention kids, school age kids, the elderly residents of Shiv Sadan, residents with cured leprosy and, of course, learning to dance for Founders’ Day. As a volunteer in India I was able to make lifelong friendships, see amazing sights including weekend treks through the close -by Himalayas, getaways to nearby towns of Rishikesh and Chandigarh and not so nearby places like Amritsar, Dharamshala, Jaipur and Chopta.

A great experience that I would highly recommend and will probably look at going back in the not too distant future.

Ben 2017