WFOT COUNCIL MEETINGS SOUTH AFRICA MAY 2018

WFOT Council Meetings Group Photo- There are Delegates represented from around 65 of the 101 countries that are members of the WFOT. Ashley Kahila and I feel blessed to be here to represent Haiti. Will post later with more information from yesterday :-)

MAY 17
One of the best parts of COUNCIL and CONGRESS is NETWORKING. Prior to council meetings starting we had some good Island to island networking... Madagascar, Haiti and Trinidad.

Anri and I met 2 years ago in Columbia. She lives and serves in Madagascar doing very similar work as I do as a missionary. She has become a great friend and encouragement. So glad we got to share a room for the 2 weeks!

That night was New Delegate Mentorship meeting for WFOT Council! 

MAY 18th

Day 1- WFOT Council Meetings went well. It is always humbling to be in the presence of OT delegates of countries from around the world. To all be working together to further Occupational Therapy around the world. To celebrate together as a family as countries move forward and reach goals in OT. It is always exciting when New countries join or more education programs get approved. It is exciting to see the statistics and realize how much growth of the profession is happening. Ashely got inducted into WFOT as the new Delegate for Haiti 🙂! After a long day of meetings we had a nice evening mingling and enjoying the local music and culture. Ashely and I huddled around the fire as it is winter in South Africa and us Carribian girls were cold 😂. Great conversations have been had. We look forward to Day 2 representing AHE/HAOT 🇭🇹

Ashley getting pin for being HAITI DELEGATE!

MADAGASCAR become a FULL-MEMBER of WFOT! YAY! 

It was winter in Capetown...Ashely and I trying to stay warm!

MY OT friends from the UKRAINE

MADAGASCAR debriefing after day 1!
EXCITING DAY FOR THEM! They became Full-Members of WFOT!

MAY 19th 
Day 2 WFOT council Meetings: It was a good day. In the morning we worked through the Agenda together. Then in the afternoon we split into Project Groups. Ashley Kahila and I both are in the Education Group and for the next 2 years we will be working alongside colleagues from Ukraine, Madagascar, Trinidad & Taboga, Pakistan, and Namibia as well as others who were not present at this council meeting. We will be working on a project entitled Developing an Occupational Therapy Educators Preparation (OTEP) Module on Essential Competencies and OTEP implementation guideline. After council we had a wonderful time meeting up with some of Madegascar's Canadian Friends over dinner. It was fun to hear more about Anri-Louise Oosthuizen ministry and OT work in Madagascar. She is doing amazing things! One of the Joys of council is meeting and developing relationship with other like minded OTs in similar situations as yourself.

MAY 20th

Day 3 and Final Day of WFOT Council Meetings: we started the day with meeting with our Project Groups. The rest of the day was finishing the council Agenda. During morning tea Ashely and I attended a meeting on Disaster Preparedness and Relief. During lunch ACOT (the carribean OT regional group) and CLATO (the Latin American regional group) met and had good conversation including the idea of having a joint CLATO and ACOT congress in 4 years. During afternoon tea got to experience Madagascar delegates experiencing the ocean for the first time which was priceless! And the council meetings ended early. So many memories from the 3 days. I think everyone is exhausted but also filled to the top with information to take back and share with their countries! ONWARD to Congress workshops tomorrow 🙂

 

ANOTHER CARRIBEAN FAMILY PICTURE!

All the AOTA Therapists

It was an incredible 3 days of Council Meetings. Full of lots of business and hardworking by everyone but intermixed with great times of fellowship, conversations, networking, encouragement and new friendships formed. As always it was an incredible opportunity to represent Haiti and to keep advocating for OT in Haiti.