17 The final instrument and the manual were taught to 10 rehabilitation technicians in the course of a 5day workshop. The trainees then returned to their stations and implemented their training. Each trainee received visits from the supervising physiotherapists over the following two months, with independent assessments of their work and supervision of ongoing cases being provided by the Provincial Department of Physiotherapy. The trainees returned for a 2 day supervision workshop after three months. This provided an opportunity to evaluate the training, correct any problems, and obtain feedback from the trainees about any difficulties or omissions in the training or the procedures. An interim evaluation will then be carried out by the project team from AMANI and the Provincial Physiotherapy Department, and any corrections needed to the manual, the protocol, or the training, were made. It was hoped that this project would result in the production of a manual and protocol suitable for Rehabilitation Technicians, which it did. Furthermore, the programme was extended to Matabelaland in 1999 with the launch of the Matabeleland Programme of the Amani Trust. Attempts were made to formalise the programme in the Ministry of Health, but this did not materialise. However, this little initiative was a promising start to extending physical care of survivors, and demonstrated that rehabilitation technicians could be useful cadre to involve in the community care of survivors of torture. 3.5 Forensic Nurses The interest in forensic nursing grew both out of the understanding of the need for such a cadre of professionals, and the exposure to such a programme at an Amnesty International conference in South Africa. The Amani Trust sent a member of staff to participate in a forensic nurse training course in the Northern Cape in 2000, and, on the basis of this experience, negotiated with the Zimbabwe Nursing Association to hold a similar course in Zimbabwe. This programme was held in June 2001, following a series of meeting with Provincial Nursing Officers and the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA). In order to understand more clearly the need for forensic nurses, a survey was carried out to assess the knowledge and attitude of Human rights violations and medical ethics among nurses. The results were used to assist in the designing of the training programme in Clinical Forensic nursing. About 800 questionnaires were distributed to Nurses in the Harare City Clinics, Central Hospitals including Chitungwiza, Independent and Occupational Health clinics. Secondly, several meetings were held with Stakeholders to discuss the training objectives. The survey provided interesting results, but generally vindicated both the need for forensic nurse training and more teaching in the field of medical ethics18. The course was conducted in accordance with the requirement of the International Association for Forensic Nurses from 18th June – 13th July 2001, at the Medical School. The course had 4 expert facilitators from the United States, as well as several local ones each with a specialty. 22 participants from all Provinces, including 3 clinical Officers from Amani Trust, attended. Supervision by Ms Hlatywayo, the Amani coordinator, started in September and continued to February 2002. She did monthly follow-ups to every participant at his/her station. A refresher course was held in December 2001 for the participants. 19 of the 22 participants attended to review progress, share experiences and recommend a way forward for the future development of Forensic Nursing in Zimbabwe. Most of the participants said that they benefited from the course and are using the skills gained. 18 See AMANI (2001), Knowledge, attitudes and experiences of nurses on human rights, their violations and medical ethics in Zimbabwe. May 2001. HARARE: AMANI TRUST. AMANI TRUST: Psycho-Social assistance to Survivors of the Liberation War. A report on Mashonaland Central Province, Zimbabwe.