Occupational Therapy in Egypt: December 2007

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Happy New Year Wishes...

As 2007 wraps up and 2008 approaches, we look back at our achievements and make plans for the future.

The OT profession in Egypt is slowly growing and I hope the new year brings leaps and bounds of progress in regards to:

1. Continuing to create awareness of the benefits of OT services for the special needs population in Egypt.

2. Hiring foreign trained OT's to develop OT departments within established Egyptian organizations. Therefore, the development of these OT departments not only benefits the community in need, but also establishes facilities for future Egyptian students to complete their clinical fieldwork requirements for university.

***We need to hear from more Egyptian organizations, as I have had numerous inquires from international trained OT's interested in working in Egypt, but do not have the facilities to refer them too. I would be more than happy to post contact information for any OT job opportunities in Egypt on this blog.

3. Continuing to provide workshops and seminars about OT related topics.

At least two OT workshops will be presented at the ADVANCE SOCIETY'S 8th Annual Educational Conference in March 2008, held at the British International School in Cairo. Updates regarding the conference, will be posted in the new year on the LRC website. For more information about the conference, please visit the LRC website http://www.lrcegypt.org/

4. Starting the OT program at Ain Sham's University in 2008.

For more information regarding the OT Program Director Position, go to: http://www.wfot.org/office_files/Egypt%20Programme%20Director%20Ain%20Shams%20October%202007.pdf

5. Encouraging international OT students to participate in projects in relation to the need for OT development in Egypt (i.e visiting and volunteering in Egypt, raising money for supplies for under privileged people etc. ).

For a wonderful example of how international OT students can benefit from visiting Egypt and how Egyptians can benefit from their visit, then read the previous blog entry from September 2007: http://otegypt.blogspot.com/2007/09/american-ot-and-her-students-visit.html

6. ...and, how could I forget?!

Continued subscription to the Occupational Therapy in Egypt Blog, as well as, more contributions (i.e. shared experiences and photos) by people involved in the development of OT in Egypt.

Since starting the blog in June 2007, we have had over 2,800 hits to the blog and over 70 subscribers to the blog!

It has been a wonderful experience creating the blog and I only hope for continued success in 2008!

Please share with us your own experiences and Occupational Therapy in Egypt Goals...and have a happy and healthy new year!

Laura

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Family Game Night

I am one of those people who grew up playing board games at home. With three older sister's there was always someone to play a game with; whether it be Monopoly, Sorry, Parcheesi, UNO, Battleship or Clue.

Well, 25 years later all these games are still around and children still love 'em! Children love all types of games, but unfortunately much of their time after school is spent filled with tutoring lessons, religious studies, sports, video games and TV. They often do not have a minute of "free time."

Board games can be educational and fun. Many games develop fine motor coordination, visual motor/perceptual skills, memory, problem solving, mathematical reasoning, and spelling skills.

So, why not have "Family Game Night" every week or at least once a month?

To get you started, I started to compile a list of games that school age children always enjoy. Many of these I have used in therapy and they are "kid approved!"

Of course not all games can be found in Cairo, so why not ask local distributors if they can start ordering some of these games? All of these games can be found online and many can also be ordered through Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/.

HASBRO: http://www.hasbro.com/

YAHTZEE