Skip to main content

Blog Post Challenge #8


For class today, we were asked to listen to a podcast before class titled The First Cow. The speaker was Abeny Kucha, a woman from southeastern Africa who has an amazing story. Her village was destroyed by war and for years she bounced from refugee camp to refugee camp walking and traveling for over eight years. Luckily she and her family made it to America. Listening to her story really opened my eyes to just how lucky I am to have the life that I have. When they first arrived they were taken to this apartment and told it was their new home… she expressed that the word home meant more to her than most could understand. Her children had never had a home, they had never been able to sleep in peace without any worry. She spoke of how they had no idea what orange soda was or what a fire alarm was, things that you never even second guess or need to think about can be completely foreign to others. She also mentioned how they had two couches in the living room and how no one in her family had ever seen a couch… a couch! We as Americans could learn so much from people who live and grow up in areas such as the place Abeny is from. I feel that we would all appreciate life and everything we have so much more. One last thing I wanted to mention was towards the end of the podcast she mentioned how she was able to enroll her children into a school and when the first day came she walked them to the bus stop and watched as they loaded up and the bus drove off. She mentions how she just stood there for a while with tears pouring down her face and how she was terrified that they may never come back that she might never see them again. I would guess not a single one of us would ever have to experience those thoughts as we send our children off to school, not that we don’t worry about them, but we know that the bus is taking them to school and bringing them home afterwards. Abeny however did not know this the way we do, so put yourself in her shoes and imagine how it might feel. I am so glad I was able to listen to her story and emotionally it truly touched my heart and reminded me how blessed I am as well as reminded me to do better by others especially those who may look or seem different, you never know the pain behind someone’s eyes.

Comments

  1. Dr. LancasterMay 19, 2017 at 7:39 PM

    I love this post, Cameron - very insightful and full of OT-think!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog Post Challenge #9

For this post I decided to discuss just what a therapeutic relationship is and what it entails. A therapeutic relationship is defined as the interaction between an occupational therapist practitioner and their client. Therapeutic relationships differ from everyday relationships, in that they are key in facilitating the healing and rehabilitation process. They also differ from the typical relationship in that it's not about both people but strictly about the client and meeting their needs. Developing and sustaining therapeutic relationships involves the ability to develop trust, demonstrate empathy, understand verbal and nonverbal communication, and the use of active listening. Trust is one of the most important aspects in any type of relationship to me. Once trust is obtained the client feels more comfortable with sharing personal information which in turn greatly benefits the intervention process. Developing empathy is another huge part of this process, the client must believe tha...
1 comment
Read more

Casestudy - Dementia - Caroline M.

Caroline did her presentation over her grandmother who had Alzheimer's.  Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Caroline talked about specifically how her grandmother stopped doing almost everything she loved to do during the middle stages.  Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia,  a general term for memory loss and other cognitive abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases.  Originally they weren't sure if she was just getting older or actually had an underlying issue. Caroline stated that slight symptoms began developing as early as 6 years before the diagnosis.  The most common early symptom of Alzheimer's is difficulty remembering newly learned information because Alzheimer's changes typically begin in the part of the brain that affects learning. As Alzheimer's advances through the brain it leads to increasingl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article Reflection

Article Title: Wellness works: community service health promotion  groups  led by  occupationaltherapy  students. Brief Summary: During a Groups Process course, occupational therapy students learned health promotion skills through working on personal wellness goals and leading community based health promotion groups. The  groups  targeted topics such as smoking cessation, improving diet, reducing stress through yoga, meditation, tai chi chuan, ROM (Range of Motion) Dance, aerobics, and a variety of other activities. Students monitored their own change  process  on both their personal health lifestyle goals and their  group  leadership skills while developing a richer appreciation of the dynamics of working for change with clients in community and traditional settings. This experience was said to have provided most students with a positive initial experience with  group  leadership as they began to explore...
Post a Comment
Read more