Who am I
Having graduated as a physiotherapist in 2001, I soon found out I got the most satisfaction from working with children. In 2003 I was fortunate to cover the maternity leave for a colleague who worked with children with multiple disabilities, and I was even luckier that I could stay at the organisation after she returned. Since then I have worked only with children. In 2005 I started the Master of Profession in Pediatric Physical Therapy, which I completed in 2009.
In the years working for this clinic, I was able to develop myself as an all-round and versatile paediatric physiotherapist. I had the best of both worlds; I worked in a special needs school and in a private setting. Over the years I gained extensive experience in working with babies and infants with a developmental delay, in working with children with neurological and congenital conditions such as Cerebral Palsy and Down Syndrome, sports injuries, and behavioral problems like Autism Spectrum Disorder. I also worked with school-aged children with clumsy motor skills (Developmental Coordination Disorder) and poor handwriting (dyspraxia). I gained certificates in Sensory Processing Disorders and in Plagiocephalometry (measuring and treatment of babies with a plagiocephaly or head turn preference) and achieved a speciality in chest physiotherapy.
In 2011, I received the opportunity to take a sabbatical for 18 months. Via an international NGO, I took a job at the University Hospital in Gondar, Ethiopia, where I was responsible for their newly developed Master in Physiotherapy curriculum I developed the Paediatric Physiotherapy course while supervising the students and working in Community Bases Rehabilitation centres. From Ethiopia, I moved to Tajikistan where I lived in the capital for 5 months. In a boarding school outside of Dushanbe, which hosted many, many children with disabilities, I developed a rehabilitation facility. From scratch, we decorated a room, got the equipment, and trained some local staff in basic paediatric physiotherapy principles so they could continue the work once we would leave.
In the meantime, I also started a distance-learning program at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, for which in 2016 I received my Certificate in Public Health.
After one year of being back in The Netherlands, I missed the adventures of living abroad. I missed the excitement of getting to know new cultures, and I missed being challenged and having to be resourceful. And that is how, in 2014, I ended up in Kenya.
In Kenya, I worked for 2 different organizations, one on the rights for youth with a disability and a start-up focusing on Maternal and Child Health, before I pursued working here as paediatric physiotherapist. In January 2020 I received my license from the Physiotherapy Council of Kenya, allowing me to officially work as a physiotherapist here in Kenya.
(254) 741064492
Email : fondajainruiter@gmail.com