Georgian College

Victor with two of the children who attend his clinic: Precious Kangoma (left) and Natasha Yapu (right). VICTOR MUSOWA Providing speech and hearing programs to Malawian children with special needs, in a country where such services are limited Driven by passion to work in the field of communicative disorders, Victor Musowa took advantage of an opportunity to study as an international student at Georgian, absorb as much knowledge as he could, and take it back to his native country of Malawi to help children with special needs. "At Georgian, I learned how to be a leader," he says. In April 2013, he cofounded the Rehab Clinic and Children's Education Centre in the city of Blantyre. The speech and hearing program he developed for his previous employer was discontinued and he knew he had to do something for the children who were left without any treatment in one of the poorest countries in the world. What started as "tiny thinking" as Victor calls it, has grown into a four- room clinic that has 89 registered full- time children and a waiting list of 200 more who are desperate to access the clinic's services. With a population of more than one million in Blantyre and no other clinic like it, there is no shortage of work. A team of eight full and part-time professionals, including Victor, offer support for speech, language and hearing disorders, and assistance to children with learning disabilities. Victor is grateful to Professor Ellen Sheepway for helping him access diverse field placements and says he was inspired by Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital's service delivery model. The clinic provides free services and receives no government funding. In order to launch it, Victor sought the support of a few working class parents of his patients to help rent the house and purchase supplies. Since then, the clinic has become a registered charity and this core group has developed into its board of trustees. Victor also fundraises via the network he built while living in Canada. In 2014, students from Georgian's Communicative Disorders Assistant program ran a campaign called Voiceless for Victor and raised $2,175 for the clinic. Victor's dream is to see the clinic grow and receive support from the government to help more children. "I went to Canada for one year and I was able to build this. It no longer belongs to Victor. It belongs to the community. I want to have more clinics in more communities." An advocate for health care, Victor ran in the 2014 general election and became a Member of Parliament in Malawi representing Mulanje Bale. He serves as the Vice Chairperson of the Health Committee. His other priorities include safe drinking water, education for young girls and infrastructure development. COMMUNICATIVE DISORDERS ASSISTANT, 2006 FoUNDER, REHAB CLINIC AND CHILDREN'S EDUCATIoN CENTRE 2015 PREMIER'S AWARD NOMINEE GEORGIANVIEW 2015 10 PRoBLEM-SoLVERS

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