Meet Dr. Tavares. She volunteers some of her time treating patients in developing countries in the Caribbean.

“When I was volunteering in the Dominican Republic a mother brought her child to me. because he couldn’t walk. He had cerebral palsy. She asked if I could do anything to treat him. I examined the child, treating his spine and other joints. I also taught her exercises and home joint mobility techniques to prevent contractures and showed her how she could harness the power in his muscles so that as he grew he could become more independent. She left happier and with more hope than she came with.

When volunteering in Haiti, a local brought me a man who had been mugged while working as a motorcycle taxi driver . The beating fractured his lumbar vertebra and his femur making it difficult for him to support his family.. He walked with a cane and could not stand up straight. When I assessed him, I found that neurologically he was intact so I began to treat him to reduce the large hump deformity in his spine. I also put a soft brace around his torso. Over a few treatments he was standing straighter and was happy that he would one day work again to support his family.”