In those early weeks, his team concentrated on support to the emergency workers. As those workers came back from the emergency zone, the brigade teams provided them with physiotherapy.
In the next phase, the physiotherapy brigades travelled with other volunteers in a series of convoys, five vehicles at a time, to different areas affected by the disaster. The volunteers took their services to community centres and tented refugee camps, setting up clinics on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The team’s humanitarian approach has since been used in other emergency situations. The brigades work with local colleagues in the affected countries and bring their experience of working in a disaster zone.
Daniel said: “I’m a very proud physiotherapist. The thing I am doing is to work for people. When we go out on a brigade, I start by reading the oath we took when we trained as physios.
“The first thing you learn is that we live in an unfair world, and disasters often adversely affect less fortunate people. We live in a world where there is too much inequality.
"Being a member of World Physiotherapy is important because it gives physiotherapists a voice on the world stage. It is the role of physiotherapy to be involved in political decisions."
