CDOT Meeting: May 2, 2008

On May 2, 2008, we had another Committee to Develop Occupational Therapy in Egypt (CDOT-E) meeting. Present members on the committee live in Cairo and actively support the development of OT.

We had the pleasure of Madeleine Corstens-Mignot, WFOT Delegate of the Netherlands and Egypt Co-Project Leader and Christiane Menthrup, former WFOT Vice President and Egypt Co-Project Leader also attending our meeting. Madeleine and Christiane were visiting Egypt for several days to follow up on the progress of their Egypt Project, which they initiated several years ago.

The following people attended the meeting, which was held at the Learning Resource Center in Maadi:



Pictured: (back row) Laura Efinger, Maha Helali, Dorothy Witt, Deepak Andhare, Christiane Menthrup, Madeleine Corstens-Mignot, Pip Dow, Sue Hartshorne, Ahmed El Kakhy; (front row) Majdi Bzoor and Ahmed Hassan.

During our meeting, we discussed several new issues, as well as, finalizing older issues discussed in previous CDOT-E meetings.

In Summary:

• The OT Blog will now be used to replace the CDOT newsletter that Christiane Menthrup previously completed. All CDOT-E members are welcome to post on the blog or to send myself, Laura Efinger, information to post on their behalf.

• Membership forms will soon be available to be downloaded through this blog and can also be obtained from current members. A more detailed explanation of the membership process will soon be posted with the application.

• Pip and Sue presented an OT workshop at a Back and Spine Conference in Cairo and reported positive feedback regarding their information and style of presentation.

• Prof. Ahmed El Kakhy, representing Ain Sham’s University, and Prof. Ahmed Hassan, representing 6th October University and Cairo University, asked Christiane Menthrup to clarify the WFOT’s role in supporting educational programs in Egypt. Specifics regarding the WFOT support of programs in Egypt will be finalized during their university visits over the next few days.

• Ahmed El Kakhy and Maha Helali will work together to develop a proposal for funding from the Sawiris Foundation to cover the cost of hiring an experienced OT Director from abroad for the Ain-Shams University OT program.

• Christiane Mentrup & Madeleine Corstens-Mignot, WFOT representatives, together with Sue Hartshorne, WFOT Ambassador and Maha Helali, CDOT-E Director will be meeting with HE Dr. Hany Helal , Minister of Higher Education on May 4th. They will report to the group the outcome at a later date.

The next CDOT-E meeting

Date: Saturday June 21st, 2008

Time: 2 pm

Place: Learning Resource Center, Maadi

***Anyone interested in supporting OT development in Egypt is welcome to attend the meeting. Please contact myself if you are a new attendee so accommodations can be made at the Center for the appropriate number of attendees.

***Please email myself (lme1169@gmail.com) any topics to include on the next meetings agenda.

Thanks,

Laura