Blind Students in Massage Therapy Set for Successful Year Ahead

Online, March 12, 2012 (Newswire.com) - The Light and Healing Centre, a Cape-based NPO in South Africa that offers aromatherapy massage by blind and visually impaired therapists, is currently training a new group of remarkably talented individuals in blind massage therapy. By the end of the year, six massage therapy students will potentially be part of the second group of trainees to successfully complete their aromatherapy massage course at the Light and Healing Centre. Furthermore, this year marks a significant change in the organisation's operations and direction, partly inspired by the dedication, enthusiasm and immense skill of the current training group.
The massage therapy training group is largely diverse, consisting of men and women from different cultural backgrounds who were either born blind or who lost their site later in life; each have their own story to tell. Now in their final year of training, they are the first group to perform community service at the Light and Healing Centre concurrent to their training, offering them practical experience and the means to build confidence and develop a client base. Their contribution to the Light and Healing Centre as well as the generosity of donors allow the organisation to conduct the course free of charge to marginalized individuals, providing blind therapists with a marketable skill and livelihood. The two and a half year long massage therapy course is conducted by the experienced Laura Bradfield, a fully certified massage therapist, and consists of both theoretical and practical modules.

After completing the massage therapy training the then professional massage therapists can choose to continue to work at the Light and Healing Centre, earning close to half on commission on every client session. Alternatively, they can branch off on their own and start a private business. This total independence is what the Light and Healing Centre aims for; although the Centre supports the blind, it does not want to encourage dependency in any form. The Centre aims to instill a sense of ability by providing the resident massage therapists and the trainees with the knowledge, confidence and skill to enter and succeed in the competitive job market. Being able to support ones family is an immense achievement and helps to restore lost dignity.

The Light and Healing Centre is currently recruiting for its next massage therapy training course, which will commence in June this year. Under the guidance of the Western Cape Blind Association, the Centre is taking steps to develop other programmes that empower the blind, such as a help desk operated by both a professional social worker and a legal specialist, to offer much needed social development and legal advice to blind and partially sighted persons in our communities.

To feel the intuitive touch of a blind person is an experience that moves beyond the physical, which touches the heart and starts a journey of learning and awareness. For more information on the Light and Healing training programme contact the executive director Avril Hoepner. Alternatively, to experience a truly unique massage by either a resident or trainee massage therapists, feel free to contact the Light and Healing Centre or visit their website.