THE CONGRESS

I was so excited to begin the congress not knowing what to expect or how it would all work. The congress was held at a beautiful hotel in Harare, Monomotapa Crowne Plaza Hotel. It was beautiful and we as the congress guests were treated like royalty as new water bottles were given every few hours to every seat in the house, we had endless supply of every tea imaginable as well as pastry treats and toasted sandwiches every tea time, and an indulgent buffet every lunch time. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt as we sat inside the walls of this hotel indulging happily as there was such poverty and strife surrounding Harare. It’s a difficult feeling to deal with, as what can you do?? The congress began with the keynote speech from an incredible woman. What struck a chord with me was when she said: “where is the dance in OT?” we are occupational beings and we as humans embody occupation. A running theme throughout the congress was this aspect of singing and dancing- as an occupational collective, that there was connectedness in collectiveness. CONNECTEDNESS IN COLLECTIVENESS. I could argue that no research needs to be put into this saying, for if you were a part of this congress in the beautiful country of Zimbabwe, no thesis or write up could explain the feeling of connectedness in collectiveness. As OT’s and OT students from all over the world came together in Zim, through laughing, engaging, learning, singing and dancing- we were connected through this collectiveness. It was beautiful. The keynote speech set up the rest of the congress, and to our absolute delight UKZN was already put into people’s minds as Elelwani shared in her keynote speech, an epitome of a collective through dance by speaking of and showing part of our UKZN Flashmob. Who would have thought that a day of fun and excitement in my incredible class would resound so much with what I thought was the theme of this congress- dance and connectedness through collectiveness. So blessed to have been a part of this congress. Throughout the week, we were privileged to be a part of many lectures and workshops that challenged everything that I have ever learnt, as well as enhanced all my learning that I have learnt over the past four years. I think a big realisation for me was how narrow-minded my thinking was. Yes our client is the most important part of treatment, but what about treatment that extends far beyond just our client. What about their family, their dependents, their community’s awareness, the community barriers, the community positives that may assist in optimal living for your specific client. My eyes were opened to the endless possibilities of what can be achieved in treating your client. It’s more than just an individualistic approach, if we extend our intervention further than that of the individual and their problems, and rather focussing on the much bigger picture and the ABILITIES of the individuals, we would make a much larger impact. I wish with all my heart that my whole class could have experienced what we experienced, but after this week, I will encourage my class with all that I am t attend Uganda OTARG in 2015. That will be our year where we all come together again after a year and a half of working and experience in the real world, and we come together to experience OTARG together as a collective. Imagine the endless possibilities of MY class after attending something like OTARG. It excites me as I know that the passion will be even more ignited after attending a congress like OTARG.