Clinical Supervisor/Mentor, Vietnam
Wendell Marvin Endley was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He completed High School in Springbok, a small country town situated in Namaqualand, a semi-desert area, once a booming copper-mining community.
From 1984-1987 he obtained both the National Certificate, as well as National Diploma, in Medical Orthotics and Prosthetics at Athlone and Peninsula Technical Colleges and subsequently registered as a member of the South African Medical and Dental Council for Orthotists/Prosthetists.
He practised his profession as a Registered Orthotist/Prosthetist until 1996. In 1997 he pursued a career outside of this field and in 1998 joined the Western Cape Association for the Physically Disabled in Cape Town as Workshop Manager at a Protective Workshop for Persons with Disabilities. Here he helped PWD’s with job-creation, skills-training and poverty alleviation programs until he left in 2001 to take up a contract as General Manager with another Disability Program, Agrehab, also under the auspices of the Western Cape Association for the Physically Disabled.
In June 2002 he left South Africa for Kosovo, to work as an Orthotic and Prosthetic Trainer for Handicap International. Here he worked at the National Orthotic and Prosthetic Centre in Pristina for just over one year. He has been in his current position with VFA in Hanoi as Clinical Supervisor/Mentor for Orthotics and Prosthetics at Bach Mai Hospital since September 2003.
Wendell is married to Melissa, a primary school teacher, whom he has known since the age of 11. They have two children, a daughter, Kim-Leigh and a son, Robin. The children attend UNIS Hanoi and are very happy at their new school, where they are excelling both in academics and sports.
Although he does not look the part in his present physical state, Wendell ‘used to be’ an excellent sportsman! He enjoys cricket, rugby, soccer, fishing and zodiacs amongst other activities. He is also an avid reader and not too crummy a cook.
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