Saturday, February 11, 2017

A New Class Begins...

The PT Training Center welcomed the second class to the program on January 16, 2017 when nine students from five different cities across Ukraine gathered at the Agape Rehabilitation Complex for their first session.  We were not previously acquainted with the majority of these students, so we were eager to meet them and begin our session together.


For the first time during a PT session, rehabilitation continued on the 3rd floor, so Tanja (between Krista and I in the above picture) was our primary translator instead of Sveta.  God graciously answered our prayers for her for physical and mental endurance, recall of the PT terminology, and clarity of translation.  We are so grateful her willingness to participate and joke that she is becoming most knowledgeable non-therapist in Ukraine!

The majority of the teaching for this session was done by Krista and I, but Sveta, Pasha, and Ira also taught one lecture each and assisted intermittently with small group practice sessions:








Henry, our skeleton, again played a vital role in teaching anatomy: 






Because patients were still receiving rehabilitation on the third floor, we had less opportunities than during previous sessions to move upstairs for our practice time. So we often adapted our classroom to create space for the students to practice their skills on each other as well as on Agape workers and residents:

















When they arrived, these students knew much less than our first class of students because their backgrounds have generally not taken them near the sphere of physical therapy.  But they listened attentively, studied hard in the evenings, were eager to learn, asked questions, willingly helped one another and had a good time together along the way!









On the final day, they all demonstrated that they had indeed absorbed and learned a good bit of the material. What a joy for us all!





Next on the schedule for the PT Training School is the third session for the first class in March and then this second class returns at the end of April for their second session.  

Please join us in praying for:
- All students as they work on their home tasks and study the material that has already presented to them. 
- Clear direction for students as to how God would have them use the knowledge and skills they are gaining in the future.  
- Preparation and translation of the teaching material for the third session in March.

Thank you for standing with us in prayer!