Mustard Seed Communities and VISION Trust are currently involved in setting up a pilot project to transfer physiotherapy skills from trained physiotherapists in Ireland to the untrained Care Givers working in Mustard Seed's children's homes such as My Fathers House.

The short-term objective of the project is to empower and upgrade the skills of the Care Givers at Mustard Seed Communities so that they can provide physiotherapy sessions for the children and also provide training to other Care Givers at Mustard Seed Communities.

The medium-term objective is to provide sufficient skills and training so that all children in Mustard Seed's care receive some physiotherapy on a daily basis.

The long-term objective is to extend the concept of distance learning into the surrounding ghetto communities - in particular several schools in the area.

The project involves setting up video conferencing equipment to run over high-speed ISDN lines at locations in Ireland and Jamaica.

Several professional physiotherapists (in Ireland) have volunteered their services for this project. These physiotherapists will work with a target group of up to six children and a group of Jamaican Care Givers.

For the pilot project it is planned to have three one-hour sessions per week for six months. Program plans have been designed, the objectives for the pilot have been agreed upon and the physiotherapists and Care Givers have been identified.