Silaba Zimba - taking rehabilitation to Zambia

“When I saw the curriculum of (LVPEI’s) Low Vision and Rehabilitation program, I thought this is it! I knew I was lacking somewhere as a counselor. This program fills that gap,” says Silaba Zimba Mundambo from Lusaka, Zambia. Silaba is pursuing a one-year fellowship in low vision and rehabilitation at the Dr PRK Prasad Centre for Rehabilitation of Blind & Visually Impaired, LVPEI, Hyderabad. She worked as a general nurse in the Eye Department of the University Teaching Hospital, one of Lusaka’s biggest hospitals. But after completing her Diploma in Guidance, Counseling and Placement and a course in project management, vision rehabilitation became her main interest.

There is a dire need for trained staff in her country, “especially in low vision rehabilitation,” says Silaba. She believes counseling is the only way to restore the confidence of anxious patients who feel they have reached a dead-end. “Earlier, when patients who had lost vision came to me for counseling, I did not know anything about rehabilitation. I used to refer patients to a National Council of the Blind for further management due to lack of equipment and training in vision rehabilitation.” She says. The LVPEI program is very different from her experience in Zambia, which chiefly involved class discussions. “It is not that easy here being alone in the batch! You got to think critically, observe and you got to ask questions, and in the process you learn more,” explains Silaba.

Silaba appreciates the need to start rehabilitation at a very young age. Once home, she plans to work for low vision infants as a rehabilitation professional. “Rehabilitation is new to Zambia. I want to concentrate on children and work towards an accurate assessment of the condition of low vision infants,” declares the determined young woman.

Silaba is LVPEI’s first international trainee for the one-year fellowship in vision rehabilitation. Her training is sponsored by Sightsavers International.