Clément Rimaud, 25, a physiotherapist and masseur from Grenoble, worked in Haiti for six weeks as part of the teams sent into the field following the earthquake of 12 January. His mission was made all the more necessary by the fact that Haiti has very few physiotherapists. The only specialists in the country trained abroad before returning to Haiti.

“As soon as I arrived in the field, I started working in hospitals in Port-au-Prince, providing physiotherapy care to the injured. It's clear that the situation has improved a lot and it's nothing like it was immediately after the earthquake. I found that patients were able to stay positive, despite their experiences. Next, over a period of two weeks, I became the project manager for these hospitals, which means I was responsible for coordinating a team of eight expatriate staff and 25 Haitian staff. We now care for around 400 patients in 10 hospitals. To ensure people receive continuous care as far as possible, we coordinate our work with other projects, including for orthopaedic-fitting (prostheses and ortheses), the distribution of shelters and the provision of aid to communities to care for patients returning home.
Everything is done to ensure each patient is followed-up over the long-term. That's why, as far as possible, medical teams remain in the same hospital to care for them.
It was my first field mission and an extremely rewarding experience working with a team of expatriate staff from different backgrounds, and Haitian staff, who meet up morning and evening to review their missions. It was particularly important to be able to see each other at the end of the day to share impressions and exchange new information to help us gradually improve our organisation.
I think that Handicap International's strength is its long-term presence in the field and its determination to ensure no one is forgotten. It's tough trying to provide an individual response to the needs of each person, with a population that has been affected to such a large extent. Each patient has their own story, pathology and living conditions, and therefore different needs.
We give a lot during each mission, but we get more back. We're learning on every level - human, cultural, medical and other areas. And now that I am back in France, I'm not ruling out going on a mission abroad in the years to come.”