Our physiotherapy

Over 30 years of clinical experience in applying physiotherapy in rural hospitals, in health centers and on community level helped us to formulate and promote a certain type of physiotherapy. We could call it „allround suitable“ physiotherapy. This means a safe and effective application of physiotherapy skills by trained people, using mainly human and natural resources. In areas where qualified physio-therapists are still missing the physiotherapy skills can be taught and offered to patients who can benefit of it. We developed typical treatment programs for common clinical conditions. Some of the specific physiotherapy matters were translated into our conditions.

On this website you will find many of these topics in the link „Resources“. We would like to share our experience and appreciate comments from you, wherever you are. Living in a mountainous region, we enjoy a rich variety of traditional herbs. Some can be used safely to sustain physiotherapy treatments. Aloe vera jelly helps in the treatment of painful joints, steeping inhalations of wild mint is often used in respiratory physiotherapy and we produce our massage ointment with periperi powder, resin of the poplar-tree, sunflower oil and beeswax. Find more in „Resources“.

Networking
The physiotherapy department of Paray Hospital offers a platform to discuss and develop safe and effective application of physiotherapy in rural hospitals, health centers and communities. Therefore we organize national and local workshops and publish our material. We reach out for cooperation with others in this field. Please don't hesitate to contact us. We are grateful to a group of experienced physiotherapists and doctors who offer their expertise to us.

Project description: Physiotherapy in Lesotho 2026

by Wolfgang Fasser

Dear interested parties, friends and acquaintances,

Lesotho, a small mountain kingdom in southern Africa, faces major challenges in the area of basic physiotherapy care and rehabilitation. There are currently only 10 qualified physiotherapists working across the whole country, mainly in the capital, Maseru. Physiotherapy and rehabilitation care in hospitals and health centres is therefore largely provided by nursing staff, known as physiotherapy assistants, who have acquired additional training in this specialist field.

To strengthen this provision in the long term, I have been spending several weeks each year on the ground in Lesotho since 2007. The focus is on practice-oriented further training in physiotherapy and rehabilitation for qualified physiotherapists as well as for healthcare staff who perform physiotherapy and rehabilitation tasks.

Through national training courses, clinical teaching in hospitals, visits to health centres and individual professional support, I impart knowledge and practical skills that can be directly applied in day-to-day work. The aim is to strengthen local expertise and improve access to physiotherapy and rehabilitation of a sufficiently high standard in the long term.

Priorities for the next three years (2026–2029)

The physioinlesotho.ch initiative pursues the following objectives:

Continuation and further development of the teaching and continuing education project in Lesotho.
Procurement and provision of up-to-date specialist literature for participants in the continuing education programmes.
Further development of a practice-oriented physiotherapy guide specifically tailored to the conditions in Lesotho’s mountain hospitals.
Expansion of a digital physiotherapy database containing specialist texts, audio lectures and video documentation, which will be made available to students and professionals.
Continuous development of the resource platform www.physioinlesotho.ch.
Support for mothers with children with disabilities during necessary rehabilitation stays, as well as financial assistance for physiotherapy patients in need at the hospitals in Paray and Seboche.
Expansion of further training programmes for village health workers to additional health centres in the mountainous regions around Thaba-Tseka and Seboche.
Advising hospitals on the establishment and further development of physiotherapy departments.
Continuation of on-site clinical teaching at the hospitals in Paray, Mamohao, Roma, Seboche and the newly opened cancer clinic in Maseru, as well as at the National Military Hospital.
Organising a meeting for qualified physiotherapists.
Training for nursing staff in care homes and nursing homes in Maseru, Hlotse and Pitseng.
Training of non-professional healthcare workers in hospitals and health centres so that physiotherapy interventions can also be effectively implemented in home care.

Impact through partnership

The project is a private, non-profit initiative and is run on a voluntary basis by myself and dedicated physiotherapy colleagues from Switzerland. Thanks to the support of private donors, as well as the Werner Mosetter Foundation and My Care, the annual project costs of around CHF 7,000 have been covered to date.

These funds enable, among other things:

Travel and transport costs
Teaching and learning materials
Specialist literature and digital resources
Transport for students
Support for patients in need

Every contribution goes directly towards training specialists and improving local rehabilitation care.

Personal commitment

My stays in Lesotho are planned for the long term and take place in close collaboration with local partners. I am regularly supported by experienced physiotherapists and former doctors from Switzerland who have worked in Lesotho, who contribute their specialist knowledge and international experience to the project.

Further information

Further information about the project can be found at:

www.physioinlesotho.ch

Personal information about my work and my international commitments can be found at:

www.wolfgangfasser.ch

I would like to thank you very much for your interest in this initiative and for any form of support that helps to provide people in Lesotho with better access to physiotherapy and rehabilitation, and a better quality of life.

Kind regards