Félix Nindorera and Ildephonse Nduwimana, APEFE/WBI grant recipient physiotherapists, currently registered at the UCL Faculty of Motricity Sciences, participated in the “World Confederation for Physical Therapy” conference in Geneva from 10 to 13 May.
Félix Nindorera and Ildephonse Nduwimana are two APEFE/WBI grant recipient physiotherapists, currently registered for a Master 2 at the UCL Faculty of Motricity Sciences. They are carrying out these studies as part of the “Physical medicine and rehabilitation development programme” (MPR) in Burundi, which has been run in partnership between the APEFE, the Burundi Ministry of Public Health and the Burundi NGO COPED, with funding from the Directorate General of the Belgian Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (DGD) since 2011
This is the context in which they participated in the “World Confederation for Physical Therapy” (WCPT) conference in Geneva from Friday 10 to Monday 13 May 2019, during which they presented scientific papers:
- Félix Nindorera presented 2 subjects: “Strengthening rehabilitation leadership in line with WHO rehabilitation 2013 agenda” and “The effectiveness of walking versus other physical exercises for chronic stroke survivors”.
- As for Ildephonse Nduwimana, he presented a paper entitled “Effectiveness of walking versus mind body therapies in chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis”.
At the end of these masters studies next September, it is expected that these 2 grant recipients will start a doctorate in Motricity Sciences in Bujumbura. These scientific papers in international conferences are an integral part of their training and are mandatory in their doctoral studies.
From September, these two doctoral students will be based in Bujumbura, in the National School for Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation (ENKR) recently built at the Burundi National Institute of Public Health by the MPR development programme.
They will teach at the physiotherapy school while, through their work, organising the “National Centre for Rehabilitation Research” which occupies a floor of the ENKR building. They will be co-supervised in their thesis by Prof. Jean Louis Thonnard of the UCL and by Oyéné Kossi, Doctor of Physiotherapy also trained at the UCL and working at the University of Parakou (Benin).
In order to successfully complete this doctorate they have a grant for 4 years which has been granted to them by WBI at the request of the APEFE and UCL as part of the “B4” (Benin - Burundi - Burkina Faso - Belgium) programme.
This conference is an opportunity for the two future doctoral students to establish contacts with their peers from all over the world and to attend numerous scientific papers in their training field.
Testimonials
Ildephonse: " The 2019 WCPT conference enabled me to fine-tune my knowledge in the latest clinical developments and in physiotherapy and rehabilitation research. I presented the results of my work and discussed my thesis project, which will start in September 2019 in Bujumbura, with other professionals; they admired the project and encouraged me. My sincere thanks to the APEFE who supported me enabling me to participate in this conference.”
Félix: " This conference has been of enormous value for me. After the oral presentation in front of a large audience, discussions enabled me to appreciate that our B4 project is well on the way to success but financing and implications for beneficiaries should still be considered, 2 major issues for the sustainability of a project. Discussions with chairmen of international physiotherapy associations and physio managers in Neurology (South Africa, East Africa region, West Africa, Haiti, Australia, Switzerland, Canada, Japan and the USA) provided me with ideas on strengthening our Burundi Physiotherapy Association (AKB), research collaboration etc. I am very grateful to Prof. Jean Louis for his work supervision and his diligence as well as the APEFE for having financed this conference."
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